It's not all peace, love, and mushroom tea in the Plumas National Forest, with around 500 members of the Rainbow Family gathering five miles north of Antelope Lake, and federal authorities are trying to kick them out.

As we reported last week, the annual Rainbow Family campout is headed for an area in Plumas National Forest, and as many as 10,000 campers were expected to descend on the remote area by July 4th. The unorganized band of hippies, who have kept the campout tradition going for over 50 years, typically don't inform localities that they're coming until maybe just days before, and they choose a different national forest to camp in each year.

The sheriff in Plumas County was none too pleased about the impending invasion, and a lot of warnings went out to locals about traffic and potential crime. And the traffic in the area was only going to be exacerbated at a time when thousands of people were also headed to nearby Quincy for the High Sierra Music Festival.

But now, as local station KOLO reports, officials overseeing Plumas National Forest have issued a closure order for the area where the campout is taking place. And this appears to be the first time that national forest officials have taken this step with the Rainbows.

"The Forest is concerned about the 500 plus individuals already dispersed camping in a concentrated area," said Plumas National Forest Supervisor Chris Carlton in a statement. "We are always willing to work with any organization or group interested recreating on the national forest. There are existing and projected impacts on natural and cultural resources and other authorized uses. Our priority is maintaining public health and safety and the appropriate stewardship of public lands and natural resources."

The order came amid a Red Flag Warning that was issued Wednesday for Plumas National Forest due to high winds and increased wildfire risk.

According to the order, campers were given 48 hours to vacate the area, and anyone arriving or refusing to leave could face fines of up to $5,000 and up to six months of jail time. Only residents and those with special-use authorization permits will be allowed in the area.

Hilary Markin, a spokesperson for the National Forest Service, tells the Chronicle, "We have the order in place — we are planning to enforce that order."

Lassen County Supervisor Jason Ingram gave a statement as well, saying, "As I’ve said from the beginning, my concerns with this gathering were always the illegality aspect, the increased fire risk this would have created, the environmental impact, and the blatant disrespect shown to our local tribes. Events are fine, but not events that blatantly disregard the law and endanger our land and community fire safety."

Ingram added, speaking to constituents and law enforcement, "I believe this is the first Rainbow gathering event to be shut down, and you all had a hand in that."

As reported last week, four tribes in the region, the Mountain Maidu, Paiute, Pit River, and Washoe, all wrote to the Rainbow Family — hand-delivering a letter to some representative anyway — urging them to choose a different location for their gathering.

Since 1972, the loose-knit The Rainbow Family of Living Light has been coming together for the Fourth of July on National Forest Land. They had their 50th anniversary gathering two years ago where the first one had taken place, in the Arapaho National Forest in Colorado. Markin, the national forest spokesperson, at that time spoke to the Denver Post and said that the group tended to be respectful, and many stay behind after the camp disperses to aid in the cleanup effort.

Previously: The Rainbow Family Gathering Is Happening In a Northern California Forest and Locals Are Freaking Out

Photo courtesy of Plumas County