PCU_//\_Free Assembly Project

       PCU  //\  Free Assembly Project    /
       St.Louis MO • www.Free-Assembly.org
       _//\__________________________an Association of Volunteers__/

                       20 Nov. 2021

                Secret Meeting Report (an oxymoron)

        So… last week ugly rumors were going around that somebody was planning a dark secret elitist meeting with the Feds, at great peril to the Family… I was the named culprit, of course, and know who started the hysteria on Facebutt.

        Yes… a meeting WAS planned:  When the FS Regs Petition was submitted in September, we also requested a virtual meeting with USDA officials, to talk about the proposal and find out how the review process will be handled.

        OK… the ballyhooed and boo-hooed “secret meeting” with Fed honchos Happened, sort of – after delays in DC, on 11/16/21 a few reputable contributors & observers joined a Zoom conference with delegated Forest Service staff.

This to report:  Not Much.  Basically, this meeting got kicked downstairs at USDA.  The original Request went to the Office of Natural Resources & Environment, and the Deputy UnderSecretary in charge, because that’s where the Petition was presented and rulemaking decisions are made.  However no one attended from that office; the task befell some mid-level people in the FS Chief’s office, and they were unprepared:  None had read the Petition delivered 2 months ago… they had no feet in the main topic. 

        So the discussion did not reach key elements of the proposal, or plans for the rulemaking process.  I had to inform them of their own departmental rules.  A Forest Service LEO also showed up, so I told them: Cops Don’t Make Policy.

        A keen observer reflected:

“Pearls of wisdom cast.   Total lack of awareness from the experts. Bureaucrats at the lowest rung hung out for bait……that leo was there to protect the clerks. No surprise from the old assertion that the feds are still hanging on to the unincorporated association label. Back into the time warp. Thanks for the shot.  It will be a cold day in hell when we can sit across a table and make the points that are rooted in Constitutional Assembly.”

        It wasn’t THAT bad… we impressed upon them the heinous burdens of these regulations, and the constitutional and practical imperatives to change them.  Contributors had salient comments on the bad history & legal fallacies to date, the workings of Operating Plans, the need to restore cooperation, and the prospect of simple policy changes helping good foresters.  I made a proselytic point about peaceable assembly as a personal right – citing to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), Article 20:

       (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
       (2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association.        [Petition, p.17]

        So, we kinda DID “sit across a table and make the points…” – and it wasn’t very cold.
        This effort made some progress.

        The upshot: A new Request went in fast for a followup Meeting – with the right people, properly prepared, ASAP.
        Hopefully then we can report real info – how the rule review will proceed, when & where public comments will be called for, and what lessons in grassroots civics we are learning

        Meanwhile – it’s time to scope out opportunities for outreach to Congress & Rights Allies…
            inquiries welcome, stay ‘tooned…

                    _scottie addison__
                    Coordinator & Instigator

       PCU  //\  Free Assembly Project    /
       St.Louis MO • www.Free-Assembly.org
      _//\__________________________an Association of Volunteers__/

            20 September 2021        ~ PUBLIC INFO RELEASE ~

            FS Regs Petition | Revival in DC

        In June 2018 PCU•FAP presented a formal “Petition to Amend a National Forest Regulation“ to the Dept. of Agriculture, under provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act.  It got no response for 17 months, then was curtly dismissed with no real consideration – so the USFS ‘Noncommercial Group Use’ permit regulations that have afflicted the Rainbow Gatherings for 25 years remain in effect, the problems persist and still demand a real solution.

[]>  That Petition has just been resubmitted to the new USDA & Forest Service leadership, with a new cover letter calling for their “…conscientious review and proper proceedings, as APA & Agency rules require.”   The full package is outlined in the Summary below, with direct links to the documents conveyed (PDF format) – in full disclosure, as always.

• The Core Dilemma:  The current ‘Group Use’ rules are unconstitutional, where citizens who assemble cooperatively with no ‘Group’ affiliation or legal entity are precluded from authorization in the National Forest:  Gathering as individuals and equals on public land, they have no ad hoc agent capacities and cannot lawfully sign permits or anything on behalf of others… to do so would be fraud.
    As a result of these applied policies, some good people have been jailed, many hundreds prosecuted, and thousands intimidated and chilled in First Amendment exercise.  Early legal fights failed for various bad reasons, then strategic wins in West Virginia, Colorado, and New Mexico exposed the flaws in the Regs – but these unprecedented issues are still left unresolved in the courts.

• What the Petition Does:  This rulemaking proposal would revise the regulations at 36 CFR 251.50, et seq. – to legalize ‘Public Assembly’ as a special use, and allow fair authorization by Operating Plan.  It takes decisive action on decades of aspirations and the “Change-the-Regs” parleys joined by stakeholders (c. 2003-08) – which were brought to the USDA UnderSecretary back then, resumed some years later, but never carried through. 
    This is the proper affirmative approach, and the right thing to do:  It proceeds under the ‘Right to Petition’ reserved under the Administrative Procedure Act, requiring federal agencies to receive and review such proposals on the merits, with a transparent process.  This is a viable path to legal remedies, apart from the courts.

• Caveat & Strategic Coup:  The Petition is a *formal* proposal to amend the Code of Federal Regulations – technical in construction & content as required, 27 pp.  Each of 5 Parts has a purpose in stating the precise changes, compelling need, legal grounds, and workable means, with 6 surgical Exhibits in support.  It’s a serious work product, made to do a hard job and change a bad law – no shortcuts.
    Then realize that if gatherers won the big definitive court case, the Regs would not just go away… they would be revised to ensure the right and ability of citizens to gather lawfully, so just cut to the chase:  Write them Right, mandating OpPlans in lieu of permits for true public assemblies, to enable cooperation, meet high special use standards and work sustainably under the Constitution & on the Land.
    A generation of gatherers hoped and fought for this fair rule… this initiative is a direct action to Get It.

        The story and logic of the project are outlined on this webpage, with direct PDF links to all the documents:
            https://www.free-assembly.org/gather/campaigns/amend-regs/
The discussion goes to the Petition’s scope & legal grounds, how Operating Plans work as an alternative means of special use regulation, and the sensitive but necessary role of “volunteers” in the process.  The proposal is mindful of the proper duties of responsible Foresters, aligned with their valid administrative concerns – and the Memorandum on Group Use Policies (Part  IV, pg.9) builds upon the best legal briefs in related court cases since 1996.

        As noted, these issues have a history with the Office of Natural Resources & Environment, USDA… PCU•FAP  has made a strong record of policy critiques with Under Secretary Mark Rey and his successor in recent years:
            https://www.free-assembly.org/gather/campaigns/rey-critcorr02-08/
This gives leverage to the renewed Regs Petition… they have been told before, and real remedies are overdue.

        Reality Check:  Nothing happens if nobody shows up… public-interest politics runs on public support.  A New Campaign has to roll out in the coming months; for now, get the new ‘Public Petition’ here, with instructions, batteries not included:
            https://www.free-assembly.org/libtree/pub-petition/
Look for further info on where good letters can go, and plans for outreach to media, organizations, and Congress.

        Cooperation will be needed, the mission is time-sensitive, to be fulfilled by Summer 2022:
The Vision is for the 50th Anniversary Rainbow Gathering in Colorado to convene lawfully with an OpPlan under new Regs as proposed – achieving a decisive Win for the Right to Gather, and for the First Amendment on all public lands.

        This is what democracy looks like… use it or lose it.

                Onward,

                                scottie addison, Coordinator
                                St. Louis, Missouri

Petition Package SUMMARY:

• Renewed Petition for CFR Amendment (9/12/2021)

~ Conveyance letter, resubmitting therulemaking proposal  (2 pp.)

    + Attachments:
    ~ Prior Corr with USDA – 6/19 Demand, 11/19 Denial)  (3 pp.)

•Petition to Amend the ‘Group Use’ Rules (June 2018)

    ~ Original Petition as presented to USDA, in 5 Parts  (27 pp.)

    List of Exhibits:
    ~ 6 select Documents, Exhibits ‘A’-‘F’ in support  (43 pp. total)