Peace out!

Hundreds of modern-day hippies who form a commune known as the “Rainbow Family” are being kicked out of their campsites at a California national forest with the threat of fines and jail time.

The US Forest Service ordered about 500 of the permitless campers to leave Plumas National Forest within 48 hours on Wednesday or face a fine of up to $5,000 and/or prison time of up to six months, according to the vacate order.

The California eviction is the first time the Rainbow Family of Living Light — a loose-knit group of free-spirited people who gather to camp together in a different national forest each year during the first week of July — has been forced to end its annual camping tradition since its first gathering in 1972.

The free annual gatherings attract between 5,000 and 10,000 people each year.

The group calls itself the “largest non-organization of non-members in the world” and as such, organizers do not get the required permits as they claim they do not have leaders to sign them on behalf of the group, according to the US Forest Service.

The leaderless commune then sets up a welcome tent, camping and social areas, parking areas, health care sites and several outdoor kitchens. The members develop water sources and dig trench latrines to use as bathrooms.

The Rainbow Family also designates different areas of the campsite for group gatherings, partygoers, families with children, women and men, according to the park service.

This summer’s camping event was expected to bring roughly 10,000 visitors to the Plumas National Forest, near Quincy in northern California — which officials said would overwhelm the area and its natural environment.

Some 500 Rainbow Family members had already set up camp this week in an area near the Indian Creek Headwaters, about five miles north of Antelope Lake in the national forest.

The US Forest Service ordered the group to vacate “for the protection of natural, Tribal and cultural resources, concerns about fire danger, public health and sanitation, and upholding permitted special uses.”

The order went into effect Wednesday and is being evaluated daily to determine when it can be lifted.

“The Forest is concerned about the 500 plus individuals already dispersed camping in a concentrated area… There are existing and projected impacts on natural and cultural resources and other authorized uses,” Plumas National Forest Supervisor Chris Carlton said in a statement. “Our priority is maintaining public health and safety and the appropriate stewardship of public lands and natural resources.”

Locals were not pleased by the late announced arrival of the band of hippies and fought against their stay in town, according to local reports.

Four tribes in the region, the Mountain Maidu, Paiute, Pit River, and Washoe, each wrote to the Rainbow Family asking them to reconsider their camping location, according to SFist.

And Lassen County Supervisor Jason Ingram had been fighting the incoming since he learned of it, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

“As I’ve said from the beginning, my concerns with this gathering were always the illegality aspect, the
increased fire risk this would have created, the environmental impact, and the blatant disrespect shown to our local tribes,” Ingram said. “Events are fine, but not events that blatantly disregard the law and endanger our land and community fire safety.”

He celebrated the news of the commune’s first forced cancellation in over 50 years.

“I believe this is the first rainbow gathering event to be shut down, and you all had a hand in that,” Ingram said.

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When I tell other surfers that I lived in Brazil for six months, I’m often asked how I dealt with the localism. There seems to be some underlying assumption that all Brazilian surfers will kick your ass with Jiu Jitsu if you paddle out at their local breaks. And even when I arrived in Brazil, I admittedly subscribed to this preconceived notion. But after surfing all around the states of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo over the course of six months (including testing my luck at a certain secret spot in Rio), I can report back that I experienced virtually zero problems in Brazilian lineups. To the contrary, the Brazilian lineup vibes were typically pretty relaxed compared to what I am used to back home in California.

Then last week I was tasked with covering the latest update in the Lunada Bay localism lawsuit saga. Localism was fresh on my mind and it led me to ponder a paradox: Why do surfers from California, most of whom, to varying degrees, have grown accustomed to putting up with verbal abuse and the odd fist fight, tend to think that localism must be worse elsewhere? In my 18 years of surfing on every continent except Antarctica, my experience tells me the opposite. Localism, at least over a wide region and population of this size, is at its worst in my home state of California.

My worldview has been, of course, shaped by my experiences. Others might beg to differ. And there definitely are small pockets of places around the world where, on paper, worse localism issues. But I think that humans in general, including us surfers, are susceptible to bias that strengthens our perceived safety of the places that we live in and know intimately, while elevating the perceived risk of the places that are foreign to us, like in my example of surfing in Brazil.

I grew up and learned to surf in Santa Cruz. When I started in 2006, the infamous localism of the 1990s Santa Cruz scene was already fading, but even so, getting threatened by men twice my age came with the territory. I got used to it. 

I’d watch older guys chase out SUP surfers and longboarders from their shortboard-only breaks. Or a loud guy with a dad-bod would dictate who could and couldn’t surf near him at the top of the peak. And even my first time ever surfing, on a one-foot day, some idiots threw rocks at me and my friends from the cliffs. I guess my lime-green soft-top had a “hit me” sign on it.

Then I relocated from Santa Cruz to San Diego where I lived for 10 years. It was largely the same story down there: Angry locals at jetty waves who think they own the spot, intentional drop-ins at a reef accessed only by boat, a friend who got smacked in the head for wearing a GoPro, and a spot where a no-leash policy is enforced by a small group. 

The Lunada Bay story was the most well-publicized, and arguably the most severe, but it is definitely not unique along California’s expansive coast.

And it’s not that I haven’t experienced any of this behavior abroad. I have. I was kicked out of a lineup on the African isle of Mauritius – a spot notorious for its localism – simply for being a foreigner. Just a few months ago I was aggressively called a “f*%cking asshole” in Costa Rica for a minor disagreement on paddling etiquette. And one bad apple on Reunion Island decided that he would take all my waves because he “hadn’t seen me there before.” 

You might find some degree of localism anywhere you go, but my experiences of surfing abroad have led me to feel that wide-reaching localism, on average, is more pervasive at home in California. The locals in Panama and Sri Lanka gave me nothing but smiles. In Japan the local surfers rolled out the red carpet to us visitors. When I spent three months in mainland Mexico this year, the locals were happy to share their lineups. And even in crowded, chaotic, foreigner-filled lineups in Indonesia, things remained relatively cordial. 

I have not been everywhere in the world and I do understand the role measured localism plays in keeping a lineup safe. I’ve never been to Australia, the North Shore of Oahu, or the pay-to-play Mexican point breaks, for example. So, who knows, maybe my opinion could change. But from the localism data I’ve gathered, California takes the cake. Perhaps this is due to large swaths of California likely having the most surfers per square mile in the world over an area of that size. There are plenty of California surf spots, similar to Lunada Bay, some that I’ve surfed and some that I won’t bother, where you are all but guaranteed to run into trouble.

While my analysis of localism may seem dispiriting, it really isn’t. I’ve found most surfers, whether at home or around the world, are friendly folks and the common denominator of holding a surfboard creates a bridge that can easily connect you with others. But as I was writing about Lunada Bay last week, I couldn’t help but contemplate my global experiences with localism and how my fellow California surfers tend to downplay its impacts at home while they amplify the issue elsewhere.

There is a new stimulus payment available in the Golden State, but to be eligible, you must first meet some specific requirements. If you currently reside in California, most specifically the City of Pomona, you could earn up to $9,000 in total benefits. A pilot program known as the Universal Household Grant offered residents of the City of Pomona who were impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak up to $500 each month for eighteen months. Learn more about this stimulus payment initiative, along with all the requirements for 2024. 

How can you apply for the stimulus payment in the City of Pomona?

According to the Pomona stimulus payment initiative, interested applicants should apply before Monday, July 8th, at 11:00 pm. It is important to underscore that households may apply even if they receive state benefits such as Medicaid, MediCal, Pell Grants, or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) program. Additionally, to be eligible to receive the $500 monthly payment for more than one year, applicants should meet the following requirements: 

• Must be 18 years of age or older.
• Live in the city of Pomona.
• You must be the parent or legal guardian of a child under the age of four at the time you apply.
• Have been impacted by the Covid-19 epidemic.
• Set an income limit at or below 65% of the Area Median Income (AMI).
• Must agree to an informed consent form.

Besides providing households with monthly payments to cover their monthly expenses, the Pomona stimulus payment program aims to examine the impact of economic aid on the most needy families, who will be eligible for bonuses of up to $50 if they participate in surveys and training sessions.

Understand how the application process works, step by step

In total, 600 qualified applicants are selected at random for participation in the program and are assigned to one of two groups. In the paid group, two hundred and fifty (250) eligible applicants will be selected. They will receive incentive payments of $500 per month for 18 months. Likewise, another 350 eligible individuals will be selected to participate in the control group and will receive a subsidy of $20 per month for eighteen months for having participated.

Furthermore, candidates should know that regardless of whether they are part of the paid or controlled group, they will receive a $50 bonus for completing each survey administered by the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Pomona’s HUGs program will provide free benefits counseling and resource navigation services to select applicants in both its fee-for-service and control groups. Los Angeles County will also provide additional options, such as career counseling, parenting classes, and financial coaching.

When will eligible households receive their $500 stimulus payment?

From all eligible applications, the Pomona Stimulus Payment Program will randomly select 600 participants. Those selected will be divided into two groups: a payment group of approximately 250 applicants, each receiving a $500 monthly stipend; and a control group of 350 applicants, each receiving a $20 monthly stipend. In contrast, the control group will consist of 350 applicants. Lastly, eligible candidates will receive a stipend of $20 per month for one year and a half. 

There will be another lottery after the start of the payments in which 300 program participants—150 from each group—will be randomly selected to have the resource navigation services at no cost. As previously mentioned, don’t forget that the deadline to apply for these stimulus payments is July 8 at 11:00 p.m. PST, so if you’re interested, you’ll want to apply as soon as possible. On July 10th, selected candidates will be chosen by lottery. Those chosen will receive their first payment from the City of Pomona’s Income Security Program on August 26.