OPERATING PLAN
1991 RAINBOW FAMILY NATIONAL GATHERING
Rochester Ranger District
Green Mountain National Forest
The Rainbow Family of Living Light and the Forest Service has a mutual understanding that the following Operating Plan will be used to work together in a partnership to assure that the rights of all involved are respected and that the resources of the National Forest are protected.
TRANSPORTATION AND PARKING
1. The Rainbow Family agrees to sign access routes and parking areas that are agreed upon by the Forest Service and the Rainbow Family.
2 The Rainbow Family agrees that all parking for nonlive-in vehicles will be located in mutually agreed on areas. The Rainbow Family will provide parking lot crews to organize, direct, and provide security for parking in the parking area and live-in vehicles.
3. The Forest Service agrees to coordinate with the Town of Granville to close and control the West Hill Road (Town Highway 4 and Forest Road 55), Forest Road 50 and 101, to motorized vehicles from Vermont Route 100 to the Gathering site in Rob Ford Meadows and beyond. The restrictive order will begin on June 17, 1991, and terminate no later than Jury 14, 1991. t will include provision for the issuance of permits authorizing motorized access for supply, shuttle and security purposes. IMMEDIATE EMERGENCY ACCESS WILL BE AVAILABLE TO BOTH PARTIES AT ALL TIMES, Parking will be in designated areas only.
4. The Rainbow Family agrees to cooperate with the Forest Service to maintain the West Hill (FR 55), Patterson Brook (FR 50), Xmas Tree Meadow (FR 208), Rob Ford (FR 207), Gulf Brook (FR 101) and Texas Gap (FR 39) roads, the Texas Gap Trail and other trails within the Gathering Area to facilitate the purpose of the Gathering.
5. The Rainbow Family agrees that all vehicles abandoned by family members or guests will be removed from National Forest lands and towed at owner's expense after all the cleanup and rehabilitation work has been completed by the Rainbow Family and the work has been accepted by the Forest Service.
6. Parking restrictions are in place along Forest Roads 39, 50, 55, 101, 207 (the Forest Service will maintain signs informing the public of these restrictions), and along State Routes 125 and 100. illegally parked vehicles will be towed at the expense of the vehicle owner.
FIRE
1. Campfires will be attended at all times. Community fires will be encouraged by the Rainbow Family. National Forest camping and campfire information and requirements will be available at information centers.
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2 The Rainbow Family will take immediate suppression action on any escaped fire and will notify the Forest Service as soon as possible.
3. The Forest Service will provide a 20 Person fire cache at the Rochester Ranger Station in the event of a fire or emergency.
4. The Rainbow Family will recommend that a shovel and a one gallon container of water be placed at each campfire location.
5. The Rainbow Family will provide all members with information regarding resource protection and emergency procedures at the welcoming station and other centers.
6. The Rainbow Family will use only dead and down firewood (refer to the Welcome Handout).
SANITATION
1. The Rainbow Family will work with the State of Vermont and Addison County health officials to monitor and maintain at least the agencies' minimum standards for on-site sanitation. Specifics are addressed separately by the Health Department.
2 The Vermont State and Addison County Health Departments recommend that all drinking, cooking and kitchen wash water used on site be treated. The Rainbow Family will recommend that water for drinking and cooking be treated by boiling for at least five minutes.
3. Kitchen washing procedures are recommended to be a three-bucket system. The first bucket should be a hot soapy wash, the second a clear hot rinse and the third a lukewarm chlorine rinse (two ounces of chlorine bleach per five gallons of water). Dishes should then be allowed to air dry. Kitchen areas will be roped off or otherwise defined. A hand washing station is recommended for each kitchen area.
4. It is required that compost and gray water pits attached to kitchens be covered at all times with 4 mil. polyethylene or similar material and that dishes and kitchen utensils be covered when not in use.
5. The Rainbow Family will maintain at least one functioning latrine per 200 people. Latrines will consist of a dug hole at least 30 inches by 12 inches and 36 inches deep or comparable slit trenches. Latrines will be rodent and fly proof. Latrines will be located at least MO feet horizontal distance from streams and lakes, be covered with plywood or similar material and be sealed at the edges with earth. User access will be by trap door through the cover. Latrines will be shut down and filled when their contents are within 15 inches of the surface. Buckets of lime and/or wood ash shall be provided by the Rainbow Family for use at all latrine locations. A hand washing bleach water station will be at each latrine.
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6. The Rainbow Family will monitor sanitation at kitchens and latrines. Specific recommendations will be addressed by the Health Department.
SITE AND RESOURCE CONCERNS
1. The camp will be designed as much as is practical to minimize environmental impacts (i.e., dispersing camp sites) while providing a logical use pattern necessary to facilitate the purposes of the Gathering.
2 No green timber nor vegetation will be cut unless approved by the Forest Service.
3. The signing of facilities, activities, services, and travel routes in the Gathering area will be done by the Rainbow Family, as necessary.
4. Areas restricted from camping and foot traffic for environmental reasons will be identified by the Forest Service, and be signed and flagged by the Rainbow Family. The Forest Service will identify and flag areas of concern (e.g., research and cultural resource sass, etc.) to prevent concentrated use at any one area.
5. All sod and soil from the fire dug-outs will be stored, and to the extent practical, replaced after the Gathering as part of site rehabilitation.
6. The Rainbow Family will monitor kitchen and other activities to assure that soap, disinfectants, medical waste, or any other foreign material, will not be introduced into lakes, streams or other surface waters.
CLEAN UP AND REHABILITATION
1. The Rainbow Family clean-up crew will be responsible for picking up all litter; disassembling and removing fire rings; rehabilitating trails; removing structures; and naturalizing the site.
2 Recommendations for scarifying, seeding, fertilizing, and other site rehabilitation will be provided by the Forest Service after Jury 8, 1991.
3. It is against Vermont Law to bum refuse. Garbage shall not be burned. All refuse will be either recycled or removed from the Gathering sites and taken to a licensed disposal site.
4 The Rainbow Family will take appropriate action to have the site and parking areas cleaned up and rehabilitated by a time agreed upon (but no later than August 12, 1991) between the Forest Service and Rainbow Family clean-up crew(s)
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GENERAL
1. Copies of this Operating Plan will be posted by the Rainbow Family at the Gathering Information Center and other suitable locations.
2 The Rainbow Family will establish contact with local agencies, businesses, and organizations to arrange services and supplies, as needed.
3. The Rainbow Family will provide on-site first aid services and be responsible for emergency medical coordination and evacuation with area hospitals.
4. The Rainbow Family will be responsible for security within the site, at parking areas and at live-in vehicle areas.
5. The Rainbow Family Tribal Council will maintain a volunteer liaison team for administrative agreement matters between the Forest Service and the Tribal Council. The Forest Service recognizes that members of the liaison team do not make decisions for the Tribal Council or the Rainbow Family, but serve to facilitate effective communication between the parties.
REPRESENTATIVES
1. Designated representatives for the Forest Service are:
a Incident Commander - Warren Dubois & Nort Phillips
b. Planning Chief - Tom Williams
c. Operations Chief - Bruce Flewelling
d. Information - Nancy Gardner. Whit Lerer & Sue Denoncour
e. Health & Safety - Al Burns, Bob Burt & Nancy Burt
f. District Ranger - Rob Iwamoto
District Ranger
Consensed on July 4, 1991 by
the Rainbow Family Tribal Council