PTA Site Map
Pinhoti Trail Alliance
Connecting Alabama to the Appalachian Trail
Letter to the Rainbow Family
United States Forest Shoal Creek Ranger District
Department of Service 450 Hwy 46
Agriculture Heflin, AL 36264 (205) 463-2272
Reply to: 2300 / 2600 / 7700 / 6700
Date: August 3, 1993
(Solo Note: Copied from a USFS Web Page)
To: The Rainbow Family
Your cleanup and rehabilitation efforts following the 1993 National Rainbow Gathering
on the Shoal Creek District has met or exceeded our expectations. We commend those
Rainbow family members who have stayed these past weeks to work with us , in a spirit
of cooperation, to return the site to as close a natural condition as before the gathering.
As you know, one of our greatest concerns during the gathering was to minimize
potential impacts to threatened and endangered mussels in Shoal Creek. On July 16, the
biologist from United States Fish and Wildlife Service surveyed the creek along the
areas of greatest use. They found no degradation of stream habitat or harm to any
individual mussels had occurred. Your assistance in stabilizing stream banks after the
gathering as well as efforts by all Rainbow family members during the gathering to
protect these rare mussels is appreciated.
We were also concerned about long term impacts to the Pinhoti National Recreation
Trail, four miles of which was used heavily during the Gathering. We are pleased that
adverse impacts are minimal. In the case of the "Cooperation Bridge" built by Rainbows
during the Gathering, we have decided to move the two sections of bridge to new
locations on the trail for continued use.
On our walk through inspections we saw no trash remaining. We acknowledge that your
cleanup crews also removed some trash that had been on site prior to the Gathering.
All kitchens have been reclaimed, ovens dismantled and disintegrated, and compost and
gray water pits filled in. Seed has been scattered and is already coming up in places.
We found no evidence of latrines, social trails, or campsites remaining.
There will be some rehabilitation of the wildlife openings used for bus village and main
circle that we will have to do this fall. The drought conditions here now and the need to
deep plow to mitigate compaction does not make the reclamation practical right now.
(page) FS 6200 xxx (xAL)
In addition, the district will incur some costs to re-grade the main roads into the area
which have wash boarded badly as a result of the extensive traffic during the gathering.
All things considered, we are very pleased with the overall cleanup effort. I know that
many hard hours in the Alabama heat went into reclaiming the gathering site. Our
personal thanks to those individuals who made the reclamation effort and cleanup a
success.
Sincerely,
/-s-/
EMANUEL HUDSON
District Ranger
PTA Site Map
Pinhoti Trail Alliance
Connecting Alabama to the Appalachian Trail
Letter to the Rainbow Family
United States Forest Shoal Creek Ranger District
Department of Service 450 Hwy 46
Agriculture Heflin, AL 36264 (205) 463-2272
Reply to: 2300 / 2600 / 7700 / 6700
Date: August 3, 1993
(Solo Note: Copied from a USFS Web Page)
To: The Rainbow Family
Your cleanup and rehabilitation efforts following the 1993 National Rainbow Gathering
on the Shoal Creek District has met or exceeded our expectations. We commend those
Rainbow family members who have stayed these past weeks to work with us , in a spirit
of cooperation, to return the site to as close a natural condition as before the gathering.
As you know, one of our greatest concerns during the gathering was to minimize
potential impacts to threatened and endangered mussels in Shoal Creek. On July 16, the
biologist from United States Fish and Wildlife Service surveyed the creek along the
areas of greatest use. They found no degradation of stream habitat or harm to any
individual mussels had occurred. Your assistance in stabilizing stream banks after the
gathering as well as efforts by all Rainbow family members during the gathering to
protect these rare mussels is appreciated.
We were also concerned about long term impacts to the Pinhoti National Recreation
Trail, four miles of which was used heavily during the Gathering. We are pleased that
adverse impacts are minimal. In the case of the "Cooperation Bridge" built by Rainbows
during the Gathering, we have decided to move the two sections of bridge to new
locations on the trail for continued use.
On our walk through inspections we saw no trash remaining. We acknowledge that your
cleanup crews also removed some trash that had been on site prior to the Gathering.
All kitchens have been reclaimed, ovens dismantled and disintegrated, and compost and
gray water pits filled in. Seed has been scattered and is already coming up in places.
We found no evidence of latrines, social trails, or campsites remaining.
There will be some rehabilitation of the wildlife openings used for bus village and main
circle that we will have to do this fall. The drought conditions here now and the need to
deep plow to mitigate compaction does not make the reclamation practical right now.
(page) FS 6200 xxx (xAL)
In addition, the district will incur some costs to re-grade the main roads into the area
which have wash boarded badly as a result of the extensive traffic during the gathering.
All things considered, we are very pleased with the overall cleanup effort. I know that
many hard hours in the Alabama heat went into reclaiming the gathering site. Our
personal thanks to those individuals who made the reclamation effort and cleanup a
success.
Sincerely,
/-s-/
EMANUEL HUDSON
District Ranger
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