Forest officials say Parque Venado recovering well
8/3/2009
Photo by: New Mexican file photo
"The 60 Rainbow rehab workers who stayed behind were true to their word," Derek Padilla, Cuba District ranger, said in a statement issued Friday after a tour of the area. "They did a good job and their work was completed before the July 31 deadline. The site is recovering well at this early stage and time and nature will complete the healing process, we refer to as 'rehab.' "
Garrick Beck, a Santa Fe businessman and part of the all-volunteer Rainbow cleanup crew, said, "However people feel about the gathering, they should know we took care of the public land."
The Forest Service estimated 10,500 people attended the 38th annual gathering at its height July 4 in Parque Venado. Some of the people who attended the gathering arrived a month earlier to set up water lines from nearby creeks and establish kitchens where everyone could eat for free. The gathering ended July 7. All-volunteer Rainbow crews worked steadily afterward to break down and return to a natural state some 79 trails, camps, kitchens, ditch latrines and fire pits.
Beck said resource experts from the Forest Service who were willing to work with the Rainbow Family and a new set of eager young Rainbow gatherers made the cleanup successful.
"We had an outstanding working relationship with the resource people of the Santa Fe national Forest," Beck said. "I hope the way we worked together this year can be an example for next year."
The Rainbow cleanup crew followed a set of guidelines established by the Forest Service to restore denuded land and minimize erosion. By July 10, the crew had collected mounds of trash left behind by fellow gatherers and dismantled all but a handful of kitchens, which continued to be operated by volunteer cooks until the cleanup was finished.
The Rainbow Family prides itself on leaving no trace of gatherings behind. In agreement with the Forest Service, the cleanup crew performed such tasks as removing hardware such as hoses and pipes, restoring creek and stream crossings to their natural state and obliterating and blocking trails and roads to allow vegetation to regrow. They also covered up all fire rings, gray-water pits, compost pits and latrines. Covered areas were mixed with native dirt and scattered with rocks.
Wildlife, scared away during the event by the sheer number of people, according to forest resource staff, have begun to return to Parque Venado. Elk and deer are beginning to return to the lush mountain meadow and more are expected in the future, said Padilla.
Contact Staci Matlock at 986-3055 or smatlock@sfnewmexican.com.