Officials with the U.S. Forest Service have been preparing for the convergence of thousands of people on the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest for the annual Rainbow Family Gathering.
The loosely-organized group comes together each year on national forest property for a spiritual gathering where members pray for world peace, according to information released recently by U.S. Forest Service officials. This year, the group has selected an area north of Dahlonega in the Nimblewill Gap area for its gathering.
"Last year they were in Oregon and the year before in Vermont," said Steven Bekkarus, the Public Affairs Officer for the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests. "This year they have selected Georgia...the Chattahoochee-Oconee are the only national forests in Georgia, so they have selected a site...just north of Dahlonega."
Bekkarus said members of the group have already started to arrive in the Bull Mountain area, although the bulk of the visitors won't arrive until the week of July 4.
"We are expecting crowds of anywhere between two and ten thousand people," said Bekkarus. "You never know how many will show up. I believe last year's gathering was around 6,000. It just depends on who decides to show up."
The concern not only is crowd management, but also protection of the forest property, according to Bekkarus.
"Anytime we have a crowd that size - no matter who it is - we're going to have some impacts," Bekkarus said. "This affects not only the forest, but the local communities, the other forest visitors. We're going to do everything that we can to minimize the effects of that crowd size."
The Jake and Bull Trail System, the area where the group plans to gather, will remain open to all visitors, according to Bekkarus, noting that the area is popular for hiking and biking. However, a couple of forest service roads (FS77 Windy Stair Gap and FS83 Bull Mountain) already have been closed to minimize traffic in the area.
Bekkarus said the Rainbow Family of Light has pledged to help with keeping the area clean.
"There will be a crew from the Rainbow Family that sticks around to rehabilitate the area that they've used and hopefully restore it to the extent that it was or even better than when they came here," Bekkarus said.
Bekkarus said it can be somewhat challenging to work with the group, since it does not have central leadership, but overall the U.S. Forest Service and the Rainbow Family of Light have learned to work well together over the years. The gatherings have been taking place since the 1970s, so the preparation for the large event is not new to Forest Service officials.
Bekkarus said there's an incident management team in place to make sure the gathering runs smoothly.
In addition, there's a specific page on the U.S. Forest Service website where residents can get updated information on what's happening related to the event.
"We just really appreciate everyone's understanding and cooperation," Bekkarus said. "We want folks to know we are up there, we are monitoring making sure that the forest is being protected."
