Authorities want to build a 10-mile wall around Burning Man's desert site - here's why and when it could happen
Burning Man is an annual nine-day festival in the Nevada desert comprised of art installations, musical performances, and general mayhem. The event kicked off this past weekend, and over 80,000 attendees are expected.
Burning Man started out in 1986 as nothing more than a small gathering on a San Francisco beach. But the event has since evolved into a massive temporary metropolis in the middle of the desert — called Black Rock City — with thousands of camps and villages and campers taking over the "playa."
Source: Business Insider
Burning Man has been hosted in the Nevada desert for nearly 30 years. The organizers of the festival is a nonprofit called the Burning Man Project, who is able to host the event on public Nevada land because of an ongoing permit from the state's Bureau of Land Management.
Source: Bureau of Land Management
However, organizers' latest permit expired in 2018, so they were put on the hook to secure a new permit from Nevada for this year's event. They requested a 10-year renewal that would give the festival permission to continue operating at its current location through 2028, and ultimately grow to a capacity of 100,000 festival-goers.
Sources: Burning Man Project, Bureau of Land Management
Federal law requires that the Bureau of Land Management conducts an environmental impact analysis ahead of granting anyone a permit for using federal land. BLM published the first draft of it impact statement, to review the event's "potential "environmental, social, and economic consequences," on March 15 of this year.
Sources: Burning Man Project, Bureau of Land Management
BLM proposed that a 10-mile "perimeter fence" be constructed to encompass Black Rock City's 3,900-acre area. The agency suggested "hardened physical perimeter barriers" made of concrete that would "enhance site security, define the Event site, and prevent windblown trash from leaving the site."
It's important to note that Burning Man already has a fence of sorts around its perimeter — an orange plastic fence designed only to keep trash from blowing away from Black Rock City and out into the desert. But BLM wrote that the fence isn't effective to act as a physical barricade keeping unauthorized attendees out.
Source: Bureau of Land Management
The proposal went further to also call for a contracted fleet of private security at all entrance points to screen anyone coming into the area. The wall and security would all be paid for by Burning Man organizers, BLM wrote in its proposal.
Source: Bureau of Land Management
Burning Man organizers quickly fought against BLM's suggestions, who said the proposed changes were in "direct conflict with our community's core principles," and threatened to "forever negatively change the fabric of the Burning Man event, if not outright kill it."
Source: Business Insider
Additionally, the Burning Man Project estimated that the proposed wall and security would amount to nearly $20 million in added costs a year. Since organizers would be on the hook for funding the changes, the proposal could increase ticket prices — which start as low as $210 for low-income attendees — as much as $300 each.
Source: Business Insider
But in the end, the BLM decided to issue Burning Man a one-year permit for 2019. The permit allows the festival to operate with the same population capacity — 80,000 people — and same conditions as the 2018 festival, with no major changes taking place.
Source: Bureau of Land Management
"The BLM and the Burning Man Project are committed to working together during the 2019 event to improve event security and safety," BLM told Business Insider. "For the 2019 event, there will be no significant changes in the BLM's approach to event security."
BLM decided to only issue a one-year permit to organizers, because of the festival's past "noncompliances" and "unsatisfactory performance" in 2018, especially pertaining to the amount of trash left behind.
Source: Bureau of Land Management
One of Burning Man's main principles is "Leaving No Trace," and the festival has an organized trash-cleaning procession, and dedicated team, for the days following the event. However, leaving trash has been a major issues in years past, with attendees illegally dumping trash in surround days following the event.
Sources: Business Insider, SF Gate
In order to secure a permit in the future — and ultimately, the 10-year permit organizers want — Burning Man must be compliant this year. In a blog post last week, Burning Man organizers acknowledged there was "more work to be done" in 2020 and beyond, and would figure out whether BLM's requests for the future are "legally, financially, operationally, and/or culturally feasible."
Sources: Bureau of Land Management, Burning Man Project
- Read more about Burning Man:
- This livestream lets you watch everything that's going on at Burning Man from the comfort of your living room
- Burning Man banned an infamous $100,000-a-ticket camp favored by influencers after backlash from fellow attendees
- Everything you've been wanting to know about Burning Man, the wild 9-day arts event in the Nevada desert frequented by celebs and tech moguls
- The most extraordinary and bizarre photos from the past decade of Burning Man
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