>Craig's criticism of Rainbows doesn't square with reality
>By Jon Marvel..
>
>"The recent Reader's View in the Idaho Statesmen by Sen. Larry Craig
>attacking the Rainbow Family gathering prompted me to make a trip to cache
>and sack creek meadows on Sunday July 1, 2001 to see for myself what our
>senior senator is so concerned about.
>Once my family and I had passed through the gauntlet of crisply uniformed
>and heavily armed Forest Service law enforcement officials in their massive
>sport-utility vehicles, we hiked for about 15 minutes over a small ridge to
>the main encampment of the Rainbow Gathering in the mile-long meadow at
>Sack Creek. We encountered friendly, smiling Rainbow people welcoming us
>home as we walked toward the Tipi circle Where friends had established
>their camp.
>As we crossed Sack creek on a handmade pole bridge, my leashed dog jumped
>into the creek to cool off from the very hot day; Immediately, two or three
>Rainbow Family people approached me and asked that I please take my dog out
>of the creek to protect the salmon. On each side of the creek crossings at
>both cache and sack creeks, Rainbows had placed containers of water
>expressly for pets so that no dogs would need to drink directly from the
>creek and possibly disturb the salmon fish habitat. All of our encounters
>with rainbow people were friendly and welcoming, and in several places in
>the encampment there were signs asking all present to be careful and
>protect the fisheries and streams from damage.
>Throughout the meadow the historic and recent signs of degrading cattle
>impacts were clearly evident in the overwidened streams, broken banks, and
>entrenched cattle trails. Cattle had been due to enter this area on June
>27, but thankfully they were delayed because of the Rainbow gathering. I
>note that Craig failed to mention that the permitees on this grazing
>allotment (Bear Valley Allotment) are scheduled to receive up to $300,000
>from BPA this year to retire grazing permanently from the Bear Valley.
>To me, two things are clear: The impacts of the Rainbow gathering will soon
>be gone, but the lingering and heavy impacts of live-stock use on millions
>of acres of Idaho's public lands will persist.
>Perhaps the Forest Service SWAT team could turn their expensive efforts
>toward enforcing grazing permit violations, which usually go unpunished
>across our state. While many of the Rainbow people wore colorful,
>unconventional or minimal clothing and sported tattoos or body piercings,
>nowhere did I see the 'mob' behavior described by Craig. Instead, what my
>family and I saw was a large group of generous, warm-hearted individuals
>bartering small stocks of goods, playing music and enjoying music along
>with impromptu stagings, and meditating on the beauty of the natural world.
>All in all, it became absolutely clear to me that Craig's description of
>the Rainbow gathering was very very far removed from reality; so far, in
>fact, that perhaps some form of counseling might be appropriate for our
>senior senator.
>While many of the Rainbow people at the gathering are seeking to heighten
>their consciousness through music, movement and other natural means, there
>is no doubt that it is not the Rainbow people, but our own curious senator,
>Larry Craig, who is living in a dream world. "