Peace and the Planet

In order to live in a peaceful world, we need to treat our planet, Gaia, with the respect, love, and attention to her sustenance with which we treat our children. Climate change is the result of mistreating our amazing planet. Climate change is about changing weather patterns that make it hard for people to find drinking water for their children, that create flooding of homes and agriculture land, and that wither our crops under relentless sun.

When people are hungry or thirsty, violence can easily erupt over food and water. Not just in Dafur but everywhere including the gathering.  How then do we show with our actions that we are actively working to protect Gaia from climatic changes that threaten world (and local) peace?

Reduce the number of campfires. Burning carbon increases global warming. Plus if you see the cloud of wood smoke in main meadow at a gathering, you'll realize that reducing the number of campfires will improve the health of every gathering participant. Click here to learn more about the negative impacts of campfires on human and planetary health.

Reduce/reuse/recycle - adopt a zero waste lifestyle. Only buy products that you will consume or that will last you for a long time. For example, buy rice in bulk with reusable containers instead of throw away plastic packaging. Buy reusable forks and knives for a gathering not single use plastics. Packaging and throw away junk contributes to climate change. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that by cutting the amount of waste we generate back to 1990 levels, we could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 11.6 million metric tons of carbon equivalent (MTCE), the basic unit of measure for greenhouse gases. 

Plus the less stuff you bring to a gathering, the less stuff YOU need to haul out when you leave. You would be amazed at the amount of camping gear that gets left behind at a gathering.  Re-use that tent or find a loving home for it if you do not want it anymore. Don't leave it behind for the cleanup crew.  YOU are the clean up crew. The less we buy and bring to the gathering, the less clean up we have to do. Buy food in bulk, bring gear to keep you warm and dry and forgot about the rest. Recycling of aluminum cans takes energy which contributes to climate change.  Use reusable stainless steel containers for your beverages and stop giving your money to the multi-national conglomerates like Pepsi and Coca Cola who don't care about the seventh generation and are wrecking your health and the health of the planet.

Put your money where your mouth is. Walk your talk.  We can change this world by spending our money in ways that create the change we want to see in this world. Shop at your local co-ops. Buy locally grown produce. We can make a difference, one person, one family, one clan at a time. Let us follow the wisdom of our Lakota siblings and heal this beautiful planet that gives us so much.

We are the people we have been waiting for to create a future for the next generation. How are you going to step up and create the change for which Gaia is praying?

Together we can change our future

 

Fire Safety Consciousness Party

 Free on Everybody's Zoom. 

6 PM Pacific Time.

Learn all about Safe Smoking / Campfire Control / Fire Safety Station / Fire Tools / CalFire Permits and much more.

Can't make the event, but still want the information. Find lot's of useful fire safety information here.

What is Peace!

A common point of discussion when working towards peace is defining what peace is and isn't, what it looks like, which activities are considered "peaceful" and which are not.

I think at the extreme ends of the spectrum, most people can agree on what peace is and isn't. For example, most people would consider dropping bombs on other people to be the opposite of peace. Most people would consider the silent prayer/meditation for world peace and the om to be examples of peace.

That's the easy stuff. In fact trying to define peace can cause even the most peaceful among us to be less than peaceful.  So what do we do if we say we want peace, but we can't even agree on what peace looks like, feels like, acts like or talks like?

I'll throw out a couple of high level ideas, but even these are subject to much discussion. I hope you continue these discussions in the circles in which you find yourself.   

What is Peace?

 
First graders have a very good concept of peace (image from Miss Krug's Our Grade One blog):

 
Some people view peace as the absence of war or violence. Perhaps this view comes to us from  Ancient Greece in the goddess Eirene the goddess of peace, who also celebrates decisive battles that end wars. If we subscribe to this paradigm, we probably are following the axiom "the ends justify the means."

Another high level view of peace is one that focuses on harmony and tranquility that can take the form of an inner state or a state between people. We can say she is always tranquil and peaceful or they have a harmonious marriage.

Peace can be considered as cooperation between people in a social group or culture to maintain a certain level of social order. Keep in mind that slavery existed in the USA during times of peace and for me, slavery does not equal peace.

Liberian Women for Peace

The Global Peace Index (GPI) attempts to identify countries by their level of peacefulness focusing on various formal military measures, prisoners per capita, refugees, wars, etc. 

In the last hundred years, peace has been tightly coupled with the idea of non-violence. So now we have to define what non-violence is and how non-violent  methods contribute towards creating peace. Now I'm sure most of you are familiar with the teaching of the Dalai Lama, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr. -- all of which emphasis non-violence --another problematic concepts. Defining non-violence is just as hard as defining peace (but I think by now you know how to approach this issue.)

The Dalai Lama offers these words, "Peace can only last where human rights are respected, where the people are fed, and where individuals and nations are free." Of course now we have to figure out what "free" really means. For example, do we include the freedom to harm others in the word free? Or are your freedoms curtailed when they impact my freedoms? How does your pollution impact my freedom?

Peace is often negotiated between groups of people. For example, a family, school, city or state negotiate what they see as peace.

International Alerts writes, "Peace is when people are able to resolve their conflicts without violence."  

If the absence of violence is our definition of peace, we end up with enforced peace. Sometimes peace is enforced by governments and when the force disappears so does the peace. I would argue that this is not a true peace. Perhaps it is a moment when true peace can take hold or perhaps it is just a halt to the fighting for a short period of time.

Working towards peace is nothing new. In 1915, the Women's Peace Party traveled to Europe on the Peace Ship to try to negotiate peace during World War I. We all know how that turned out.

Even clowns get into the mix with World Peace Clowns. Check out the link to Patch Adams - an early gatherer.

Am I always a peaceful person?  That's a good question. I try to be, but then again, what seems peaceful to me, may not be peaceful to another person. How then to resolve all these paradigms of peace?

One method we use at the Rainbow Gathering during a conflict is to sit in a circle and give everyone an opportunity to share their thoughts and feelings, recommend solutions, discuss options and try to find a win-win solution. 

Another tool I love to use is sitting down and oming, chanting, or being silent so we create space for peace to take root.

Another method that works well both within the gathering and outside the gathering is the idea of zoning.  Some camps like to be up late at night making lots of noise. Other camps prefer the early to bed, early to rise model. When these two camps are next to each other conflict arises which then removes peace. Neither camp is right or wrong. The issue is that they just are not compatible in close proximity. Zoning is what this is called in the big city.

 The Answer to the Question: What is Peace?

The short answer is I do not have one answer.

The long answer is that I hope I've gotten you thinking about your own actions and peace as well as the community around you and peace.

I believe in peace as something we "practice" much like meditation rather than something we "get" such as a new pair of shoes. The more people practice peace, the strong the peace becomes. The more experience we have with the practice of peace, the better we get at it.

The muse of peace invites you to come to the gathering and practice your peace with this crazy family I so dearly love. This family will test your patience, change the way you look at the world and yourself, teach you new things, and provide a wonderful opportunity to "practice peace" with others. I hope to see you at the 4th of July Silent Prayer/Meditation for World Peace in Main Meadow practicing your peace.

"The most valuable possession you can own is an open heart. The most powerful weapon you can be is an instrument of peace." ~~~~ Carlos Santana

Rap 107: Gathering Consciousness

 Rap 107
Gathering Consciousness

Please protect this Beautiful Land.

Walk softly. Harm no living thing.

Harmonize - Blend in. Cut no living trees. Use only down, dead wood. Preserve the meadows; camp in the woods. We are caretakers of this land.

Everyone sharing makes a strong Human Tribe!

Please Protect the water sources by staying out of DELICATE spring areas. Avoid camping, peeing, washing above spring areas. Keep ALL soap out of streams, springs or the creek! Use a bucket to take your bath 100 feet away from any water source. To be certain of drinking water, boil it or filter it!

Protect our Health!

Use the slit trenches or covered latrines – cover your paper & waste with ashes or lime, wash hands. Dig no shitters near water areas or kitchens.

Break the fly/illness connection:   shit > flies > food > YOU!

Use your own cup, bowl & spoon. Wash them after eating and rinse in bleach water. Visit "Everybody's Medical" if you are injured or if you feel ill – especially if you have a contagious disease!

Camp Together - Establish neighborhoods. Community Fires only! ~ Each with 5 gallon water bucket and shovel for Fire Protection. If you are the last to leave a fire PUT IT OUT! Watch your gear: Be Responsible ~ “Tempt Not Lest Ye Be Lifted From.”

Karin's interjected note: Please read Fires and California.

Pets are discouraged, but if you must bring them keep them fed, on a leash and out of the kitchens, springs, & fights. Clean up their shit. Love them.

PACK IT IN - PACK IT OUT !!!

Cleanup begins when you arrive. Bring in only what is necessary. There is no janitor here ... you are the cleanup crew. Separate garbage for recycling. Don't litter - Find collection point. Compost in pits only.

You are the Gathering! Participate in Shanti Sena, the peace keepers – and all activities, councils, work crews, workshops. Volunteer wherever needed: kitchens, welcome home, firewatch, parking lot, shitter digging, supply, front gate, etc. R-E-S-P-E-C-T each others’ energies.

Keep the Balance:
Earth, Sky, Trees, Water, & People!

Alcohol is Discouraged, Guns are inappropriate, violence is contrary to the spirit of the gathering. Please take no photographs or videos of people without permission. Discourage drug abuse.

Buying and selling endangers our legal right to be here. The Magic Hat is our bank, donate early to fund our needs. The Magic Hat goes around at mealtime circles and with the Magic Hat Band.

Our power together is many times our power separated.

Enjoy the Rainbow with an open heart and you will see the Vision.

Join us for the 4th of July Silent Contemplation & Prayer for Peace. Please respect those maintaining silence from dawn to noon.

WE LOVE YOU!!



Sustenance and Safety

One of the foundations of creating peace is making sure people are prepared, in the right mindset, and able to do the hard work that creating peace entails. Sustenance and Safety are the building blocks of peace.

Sustenance takes care of our bodily needs. We can't think well when our blood sugar is crashing or when we are dehydrated. Adequate food and water is a must for all in order to be able to even discuss peace.

One of the most important actions a person can take at a gathering is making sure everyone is eating and drinking plenty of water. This year we will be in the midwest and that generally means moister gatherings and lot's of sweating. One gallon a day of water that has been boiled for 20 minutes or filtered with a 0.2 micron or smaller filter is a must.

When people haven't eaten or are dehydrated they act out. When they are in these conditions for too long, they get sick.  When you combine these issues with over-indulgences, we have a recipe for problems that can impact the entire gathering.

Prevent the problems by making sure you and the people in your vicinity are eating and staying hydrated. Be on the look out for people who look like they aren't getting food and/or water and help them before they start breaking the peace. 

Now for the tough topic: safety.

Safety is a bit harder to come by because what constitutes a feeling of safety is a very subjective and emotional feeling.  To explain what I mean, we'll talk about the estuary by my house.  The salt marsh and estuary have been channelized to prevent flooding and on either bank is a trail. The east side is a paved path that hooks up with bike paths to the north and south. The west side is a dirt road with trees providing shade on a warm day as shown in the image.

The Estuary

People in my neighborhood have very different perspectives on the estuary. Some people view it as a haven for criminals and are afraid to go down there especially after dark. Other people loving taking their kids down to watch the Great Blue Herons and Osprey trying to rustle up a meal.

Now you would think there is some logic as to who feels safe at our estuary and who is scared, but so far I haven't observed any patterns.  I see people with small kids down there watching the sunset and in the early morning many seniors walk their dogs. Then I meet other people in their thirties and forties who are scared to go down without a large group of people because once upon a time someone had a bike stolen (maybe 10 or 15 years ago).

In addition to the herons and hawks at the estuary, one finds the differentially housed: people who live in tents or throw down a sleeping bag under a bush for the night.  Some people are scared of people with different lifestyles then their own, others exchange pleasantries with everyone. Some people who live in non-portable houses are scared of the differentially housed. Others make friends.

Every time I speak at a community meeting, some people go off the deep end on how dangerous the estuary is and others talk about how it's an asset to the community.  I know that I can't change people's opinions about which is which. Plus trying to address how people feel is tough. Your feelings are neither right nor wrong, they just are.

Low crime rates do not make people feel safe. Community makes us feel safe.

So having said all this, how do we help everyone feel safe at the gathering?

One way we can do this is to treat others the way they would like to be treated -- not the way you would like to be treated.  Try finding gentler voices. Look out for each other in peaceful ways and make sure the people in your vicinity seem comfortable. We all have different levels of tolerance, sensitivity, and fear. Honor that.

If someone looks uncomfortable, they probably are. Introduce yourself. Smile at someone you do not know.  We all feel more comfortable when we are around friends. Share your gathering wisdom. Pay more attention to body language. Learn to pick up vibes from the people around you. If you sense that someone is afraid of a situation, help them to feel comfortable by either staying with them, removing both yourselves from the situation, or talking to the other person about their fears in a supportive way.  Just because the situation is comfortable for you, doesn't mean it's comfortable for everyone.

Honor our differences and our need to be treated accordingly. Help each other on this journey.

Please pay special attention to law enforcement officers. A scared cop is a dangerous cop (remember Wyoming 2008?). Turn down the volume on negative energy by oming instead of cussing when you do not like a situation.

Think about how you would like others to act around your three year-old child and your ninety year-old grandparent and act accordingly.

Love

The rainbow family is full of love. We shout "we love you" to the sky, to other gathers, to the earth upon which we gently walk.  I have many friends whose children were conceived at the gathering.  We shower love as best we can on people who are unhappy about our presence in their neighborhood. We love all our siblings (brothers, sisters and transgenders), even the ones we do not like all that much.  We love the person who didn't pick up their dog shit, but we want to talk to them about it as well.

We even have a somewhat sarcastic phrase "loven you" to indicate our concern without being too mushy. With all these types of love floating around, how does love contribute to creating peace? Does the manner in which we love matter or does it matter more how we express our love?

In English we are limited as we have one word for love. The ancient Greeks had four separate words for love:

• storge - kinship or familiarity
• philia - friendship
• eros - romantic and or sexual feelings
• agape - self-emptying or divine love

Spanish has many words for love:

• encantar - indicating strong like
• gustar mucho - indicating strong like
• querer - to love romantically, to want
• afición - enthusiasm
• amado - sweetheart 
• amor - pure love, romantic love
• caridad - charity

Love is also an emotion. A very strong and powerful emotion.  How many of you have made decisions based on amar, agape, caridad, eros, and storage? I'm guessing everyone.

For the romantics among us, love is what creates beautiful art, amazing music, and sleepless nights.

For the biologists among us, love is a biological function like hunger or thirst that creates attachments between people, thereby insuring their survival in a dangerous and hostile world.

For the psychologists among us, love is not only a feeling, but a series of actions. 

Unconditional love is a common theme of most of the major belief systems and is one of the often unspoken foundations of participating in the phenomenon commonly called the Rainbow Gathering.

So what does all this have to do with creating a culture of peace?

Well besides being a slogan from the 1960s, using love as a way to create connections strengthens our interpersonal relationships. If we love someone with whom we disagree, we are highly motivated to find a solution that meets the needs of everyone.  If we have no personal attachment to other living beings, then we can more easily ignore their perspective and we often do not care about their  happiness.

Yet loving each of our siblings all the time is challenging. Some of our siblings act out, behave poorly, don't clean up after themselves, steal, fight, or are just downright mean. What then?

Then we muster our agape and our caridad and try to make that connection. We try to befriend our siblings. By finding a connection, we are creating a relationship. It may be storage it may be afición, but if we can love another person in the worst situation, then maybe we can use that relationship to work towards peace.


But to be clear, loving someone does not mean you accept all their actions.


True love is being able to love your siblings while calling them on their bullshit (in a loving manner). 

True love is being able to communicate in a loving way why specific actions are hurting you, the planet, or other living creatures.

True love is a meditative practice we undertake as we deal with the frustrations, interruptions, disappointments and annoyances that fill our lives.

 Let your mantra for this year's gathering be I love all my siblings and this beautiful planet we call home.

Love is the path towards peace.

Respect

The gathering of the tribes is dedicated to creating peace on earth and the positive evolution of the planet. Sometimes peace seems so hard to attain, it can be helpful to focus on strategies that create opportunities for peace.  Today's concept is "Respect."

From the beginning, the gathering included concepts of respect. The invite to the first gathering in 1972 started off:

We, who are brothers & sisters, children of God, families of life on earth, friends of nature & of all people, children of humankind calling ourselves Rainbow Family Tribe, humbly invite:
All races, peoples, tribes, communes, men, women, children, individuals -- out of love.
All nations & national leaders -- out of respect
All religions & religious leaders -- out of faith

 If I were authoring the invite today, I would modify it to:
All races, peoples, tribes, communes, humans and other living things -- out of respect and love.

So how then does respect contribute to creating peace?

Peace needs nurturing and dialog to plant its roots and grow.  Peace needs food and water.  If we do not respect the needs of peace and honor those needs, we are doomed to failure.  So how then do we go about creating respect at our gatherings?

When we gather, we are a community with a diversity of backgrounds, religious beliefs, political affiliations, interests, hopes and dreams. Honor that diversity in each of us -- our differences are what make us capable and interesting. Our connections are what make us strong.

The following ideas are commonly shared ideas, I didn't invent them, but I find it helpful to be reminded of them.

Respect is one of the core values in our attempts to create an egalitarian culture. By approaching my family with respect I am laying the roots for a relationship. By treating people the way they wish to be treated, I can connect with others. If I offer respect to another person, that person is more likely to offer respect to me and to others. People who are treated with respect, learn how to treat others with respect.

We are all part of this big, wonderful planet called earth and hence we are all connected. Rather than trying to severe these connections, let's strengthen them. In 1994 at the Wyoming annual gathering, a forest fire occurred at the edge of the gathering up on a ridge. We formed a human bucket line from the creek at the bottom of the meadow to the ridge. None of us could have individually carried enough water up that hill quickly enough to put out that fire. But standing shoulder to shoulder and passing buckets hand to hand, we connected water and fire and extinguished the flames.

Separate issues from people in a respectful manner. When someone is engaging in non-respectful behavior, respect the person enough to explain why the behavior is creating an issue that needs to be addressed.  And always focus on the behavior that is the issue.

Acknowledge the emotions behind the inappropriate behavior and ask the person if they could refrain from the behavior and share their feelings with us instead. We all do this with our children when we refrain from saying "you're bad" and instead say "you made a poor choice"  or "please use your words to tell your brother why you are upset instead of hitting him."  Why can't we use this same method with adults?  Especially those of us who are children in the bodies of adults.

As the early gatherers (or earlies as they are more commonly known) wrote a long time ago "we are all of us children" as we are just now learning how to live with each other.  Be patient. Some of us learn more quickly and some of us learn less quickly. We all started from different places so we all have different journeys ahead of us. Let's be fellow travelers on this uncharted sea.

Everyone has an opinion and their opinion is no better nor worse than my opinion or your opinion. When we create space for people to freely share their thoughts without fear or judgement, we are creating a space where we respect each other.

Listen. We show our respect to others by listening to what they have to say. We not only listen with our ears, but our hearts, our minds, our souls, and our hands.  When people feel heard, they feel respected. When they feel respected, they are more likely to respect others.

Respect is an important starting point for creating peace.

Rap 121 Sexuality and Consent

 This is a gathering based on love and respect.

Please help create a safe space for everyone.

 

Respect each other and do no harm.

 

Ask before hugging or touching anyone.

 

Nudity is natural, and not a sexual invitation.

 

“No” means NO! The absence of “Yes” means NO!

 

A sleeping or intoxicated person cannot consent.

 

A person under the legal age of consent cannot consent.

 

A person unable to competently consent for any reason cannot consent.

 

Consent at one time does not imply consent at any other time.

 

Consent for one action does not imply consent for any other action.

 

Consent given can be revoked at any time.

 

Respect yourself and trust your instincts. If you don’t feel comfortable being intimate or alone with someone, or with what someone wants you to do, you have the right to say “no”.

 

If planning on engaging in sexual activity, open and forthright sharing about sexually transmitted infections is necessary.

 

Love happens – protect yourself – use condoms! If you don’t have one, just ask.

 

If you observe what you believe to be a boundary or consent violation, offer support or get help.

 

If you see immediate danger of any kind, yell out “Shanti Sena!” and other gatherers will rush to your aid. If you hear someone yell “Shanti Sena,” approach quickly, carefully and peacefully.

We are all Shanti Sena – Peace keepers!

Spring Circle / Council / Counsel

Updated June 18 @ 8:05 AM Pacific Time 

Spring council ended. Directions to the gathering are here.

Spring council/counsel/circle

Spring council is when all potential sites for the gathering are brought to any people who want to be involved in selecting a site.

People talk about critical issues and plant the seeds for a positive and healing gathering.

The council usually takes one to seven days and normally ends with either a consensus by silence among people at the council or an exodus of the majority of people heading to the preferred site. Spring council goes until a decision is reached by consensus or by foot.

Until spring council process determines a site, there is no home.  This being said, spring council is usually but not always in within 100 miles of the area of where the best potential site(s) for the gathering are located. 

Spring council takes as long as it takes to reach a decision. If you want to have a voice in the decision making process, please be there on the land. Once Spring Council reaches a decision, then we move to the land and start building the gathering aka Seed Camp.  If you are not a self-sufficient gatherer and are not willing to do the work of preparing the gathering for family coming home, please don't show up until at least June 20th.   Even then, water systems will be under construction,  kitchens may not be prepared to feed anyone but their own crews, and engagement with government entities will be ongoing. 

Everyone is welcome to participate in the spring council process!

DIRECTIONS TO SPRING COUNCIL

Go to Susanville, CA on Hwy 395 (north of Reno, NV).

From Susanville, CA, take highway 36 west for 9 miles. While still on highway 36 you will see a sign for the Roxie-Peconom Campground -- head for that. Turn left on Willard Creek Road aka Forest Service Road 29N03.  Head towards the Roxi-Peconom Campground and look for gatherers along the creek in the free camping area (OUTSIDE THE PAY CAMPGROUND).  Folks will be camped near Willard Creek Road.

Once spring council reaches a consensus, directions to the gathering will be distributed widely including on this blog.

Sounds From The Rainbow: A collection of field recordings

Sounds From The Rainbow Website

The essence of America lies not in the headlined heroes…but in the everyday folks who live and die unknown, yet leave their dreams as legacies. ―Alan Lomax

Featured within the site are a collection of field recordings a long time gatherer has made at a variety of rainbow gatherings over the last 17 years or so. There are over 1100 songs, poems, sounds, snippets, and stories for you to listen to and/or download. They are live, rustic, and spontaneous recordings made out in the forests of the world. More often than not, they were recorded in a rugged and unpredictable environment – each of these tracks are a one source recording and no additional studio elements have been added.  Feel free to listen to, download and/or share these recordings, but please ― No Sale or Commercial Use. Visit Sounds From The Rainbow.

Prayer for World Peace on Interdependence Day (July 4th)

Circle on July 4
Photo from Colorado 2006 (thanks Solace)

The silent prayer/meditation for world peace is the culmination of our attempts to create a peaceful and harmonious gathering. Starting as the sun rises on the morning of July 4th, the gathering will become silent. As people wake up and get ready for their day, most people respect the silence. As people are so inclined they head to main meadow to pray for world peace, do yoga for world peace, meditate for world peace and all sorts of other mellow and silent manifestations of creating the energy of world peace and the healing of the planet.

 We hold this peace in preparation for the arrival of our children. The children's parade (meet at Kid Village or Dirty Kid Village a few hours before noon if you have kids and want them in the parade) will come into the center of the circle. Please hold the silence until all the children (even the ones at the end of the parade) have made it into the center of the circle. Our children our are future and deserve our respect. Oming/Auming can start when most of the children are in the circle. PLEASE SHARE THIS INFORMATION WIDELY.

At some point before breaking the silence we will om/aum. Not a short 1-2 minute om, but a long drawn out 15 minute or 30 minute om/aum. If we are all focused and om together, not in a hurry to get it down, but to be with it in the moment, we can create energy that will change the world.

Each of us has a crucial role to play in this sacred ceremony that is the core of the Annual Gathering of the Tribes. This is why I and so many people I know go to the gathering, dig shitters, chop wood and carry water. This is why so many people dedicate so much resources and energy to the gathering. Please if you choose not to participate, please be silent and let those who wish to create a sacred ceremony do so.

California Rainbow Gathering Lightline

Recorded info on the gathering plus the ability to leave a message if needed. Call will be returned as volunteers have time to do so. The line will be staff until late summer.

Fires and California

California has a long history of fires that have wiped out homes, communities, habitat and wild places. While 20 or 30 years ago, we often considered wildfire part of the natural landscape, due to the climate crises, wildfires are hotter and more destructive. Although many plants here have evolved to recover from occasional wildfires, the frequency and heat-level created by climate-change fueled fires burns so hot, that it kills off our vegetation and many plants can't survive the inferno.

For those of you who don't live in the west, you may not understand that wildfires can burn 1/2 million to over a million acres per fire. Most of the largest wildfires in California's history have been in the last decade.  

Wildfires can burn up at a rate of one mile per minute, much faster than humans and wildlife can run!!!!!

Wildfires are serious business in this state and wildfire safety is treated equally earnestly.

Over the years, wildfire safety has been a paramount concern at gatherings. However, this year, we are going all out on wildfire prevention.

The short list of things we always ask all gatherers to do:

• Always have 5-10 gallons of water and 1-2 shovels at every fire.Make sure fires are supervised by responsible adults all the time.
• Build fires away from tents, trees, and brush. 
• Remove duff (flammable organic matter on the forest floor), and all debris down to the dirt for at least ten feet around fires and smoking areas.
• Please community fires only. If you have a camp with 20-40 people, that's a community, but all of the above still applies.
• If a fire can no longer be supervised, it needs to be put out well enough that you can put your hand in the ashes and they feel cool to the touch. This means you have to use water to put out fires. 
• If you will be part of a kitchen, make sure you have a fire extinguisher that can put out a grease fire! (Water doesn't work on a grease fire).
  

TIP!  Please don't smoke while you're walking down the trail. Kick it at a kitchen or other space while you smoke and make new friends!   

Smoke Safely: 1. Shade 2. Sit. 3. Smoke. 

 

Be forewarned

Spark arrestors are required on all portable gasoline powered equipment including chain saws, generators, weed eaters, mowers, etc.. 

Hot exhaust pipes and mufflers can start fires you won’t even see, until it’s too late!
Don’t pull your vehicle into dry grass or brush. Check with Parking Crew on the land for more info.

These requirements can change at a moment's notice! Weather influences fire danger. Check in with the Fire Safety Station by INFO off Main Meadow for the latest rules and regs frequently if your camp has a fire or is cooking with a fuel stove!

Get your Free Fire Permit

The State of California requires all users camping in the woods who want to have campfires or cook on a propane/gas stove to have a personal fire safety permit. The permit is free, and IS NOT RELATED to any Federal government or United States Forest Service Group Use permit.

They are free, fairly simple and super quick to get off the internet. This is information that all folks considering having a campfire or propane/gas stove in California should understand. THIS IS A STATE OF CALIFORNIA REQUIREMENT!

The CalFire permit belongs to a person, not a campfire. Therefore, if you will have a kitchen or community fire, multiple people in your circle should have permits as a responsible adult with a permit must be by the fire!

Get your free CalFire fire permit here. Print it out, put it in a plastic sleeve or laminate it, and bring it with you to the gathering! 

Be warned!  We will have a fire watch crew that is damn serious about fire safety this year.  Don't expect to be able to slide on our fire safety protocol as we do not want you to endanger our children, our elderly, gathering participants, and surrounding communities. We will have fire safety information at our Fire Safety Station near the INFO Booth off Main Meadow. Please check with the Fire Safety Station before building a fire or using your propane stove, even if you already have the above mentioned CalFire Fire Permit! Situations on the ground will change and the best place to get the latest updates for the gathering is at the Fire Safety Station.

For the latest fire information in the State of California, including active fires and Red Flag warning areas, visit CalFire's website.