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The Blog That Burns

Concrete Barriers, Private Security Forces, and More Plug n' Plays - A Possible Future for Burning Man

3/16/2019

22 Comments

 
TL;DR: The Bureau of Land Management is proposing that Burning Man must contract independent, third party security forces to screen vehicles and participants coming into Burning Man for contraband, and install concrete barriers and steel fences around at least some of Burning Man and/or gate road. 
They also want to mandate that Burning Man increase the number of people who take buses in or fly in (most of whom can't bring sufficient supplies for themselves that way) and go onto say that this may necessitate the need for more plug n' plays to accommodate those people.
​Is this what we want? 
Picture
We have an opportunity to be heard. Let's take it. Details below.

 Background

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released a draft proposal yesterday in response to the Burning Man Project's ("the Org") request for a 10 year Special Recreation Permit (SRP) for Burning Man. For those unaware, the Burning Man event is held on federal land that is managed by the BLM. Every year,  the Org has to get an SRP to hold the event, which comes with a maximum population for the event, but they have now requested a 10 year permit that would allow the population to grow to 100,000 people by 2022. 

The draft proposal is technically called an "environmental impact statement" (EIS), which the environment in this case referring to everything that surrounds Burning Man, from the actual environment to the impact on local communities to the roads to protecting burners themselves. It's really long! 372 pages across two documents, which makes sense considering that Burning Man is the largest event in the country that receives an SRP.

I've read the interesting parts and skimmed the rest so you don't have to! Much of this is pretty dry but a couple parts really stand out.

The Scenarios Considered

The EIS considers five scenarios:
  1. What the Org wants: A 10 year SRP that sees the population cap (including staff but not including gov representatives and vendors) go to 85,000 for 2019 and then steps up by 5,000 each year until it hits 100,000 in 2022. At 100,000 population, 2000 theme camps would be permitted.

  2. Reducing the population cap to 50,000, and limiting the number of theme camps to 1000.

  3. The location of BRC would be shifted north, but otherwise no change from scenario #1. Primary access would still be via Eight Mile Road, but now it'd be about 8 miles to the event site.

  4. The SRP would be issued at the same population cap (80,000) as in 2018, with no other changes.
    ​
  5. No SRP at all would be issued, and Burning Man would not be permitted to be held there.

Should We Be Concerned?

I think so, yes. I'll explain, but you also don't have to take my word for it. Jim Graham, spokesmen for the Burning Man Project, told the Reno Gazette, "Our staff is reviewing the document and accompanying 11 special studies, and our initial review revealed serious concerns with parts of the proposed stipulations. At this time it is premature to provide an assessment until we have completed a thorough review. We will then provide a more detailed response."

I don't know which parts he's speaking of, but there are four areas of concern that stuck out to me when going through the documents. I've read through the stipulations for Burning Man in previous BLM EIS/SRP reports, and there is nothing like these requirements in there as far as I can tell. These are new provisions.


  1. They want to require the Org to contract with third-party, independent private security forces to screen vehicles and participants for contraband. I wish this was a joke, because it ought to be. Here's the quote from the document: 

    "At all portals of entry into the Event, beginning 14 days before Labor Day, BRC will be required to contract a BLM-approved, independent, third-party, private security to screen vehicles and participants, vendors and contractors, and staff and volunteers entering the Event. Third party, private security will report Closure Order violations, to include weapons and illegal drugs, directly to law enforcement as violations are observed so that law enforcement can respond."

    What the ever-loving fuck? I don't know what specifically "screening" would entail, but for everyone who has ever complained about Gate can we at least acknowledge that we'd much rather have them running entrance "security" than some private contracted security force? ​I think we can also depend on the fact that this would make entry even more of a wait than it already is.

    I think it's likely that the motivation here is that law enforcement doesn't like the fact that gate only checks for stowaways, and wants to bust people coming in with contraband. They know law enforcement can't demand to screen every vehicle, but private security at a private event can, and in this case said private security is required to turn over offenders to law enforcement.

    This is an awful idea that needs squashing.

  2. ​​The option to issue a permit with a cap of 50,000 people. The option to issue no permit doesn't really concern me, because other parts of the document make clear that the BLM is well-aware that thousands of us would show up anyway, necessitating increased law enforcement presence and increasing the possibility of civil disobedience or unrest and confrontation with law enforcement. I don't think Mark Hall, the BLM officer responsible for issuing (or not) the SRP, is looking to throw a match onto several thousand metaphorical burn barrels full of highly flammable community resentment and anger.

    The reason I find it concerning is that I think it would seem, to many outside observers, like a good compromise between the event and the many legitimate concerns the event raises in the surrounding local communities. It'd be a bit of a nightmare of a compromise for the event this year though, as with 32,000 DGS tickets already sold, there'd only be room for another 18,000 tickets (of all kinds....low income, artist tickets, main sale, FOMO, etc). In future years, I think reducing the population to 50k is worth considering, insofar as bigger doesn't mean better.

  3. It mandates that the Org increase the % of people taking the bus and planes to get in and goes onto say that this might mean more plug n' plays. "With increased Event size, there may be increased potential for changes to the values and setting of the Event. Increasing the number of participants arriving via bus or plane due to limitations on vehicle passes may result in the need for additional turnkey camps to support burners who cannot transport supplies​."

    I'm not hearing that noise. Down with plug n' plays, full-stop. If growing the population means accepting more plug n' plays, then let's not grow it, because they're right: putting more and more people on bus and plane transportation where they're unable to be self-reliant is going to lead to more turnkey/plug n' play camps. Yes, in theory those people can all find campmates who are driving in to carry their gear, or they can join container coops (if they live in one of the places that has one going, which many burners, particularly international ones, do not), but while some will go that route, it just increases the pressure to join a camp because of amenities, like it's a goddam hotel or something.

  4. The Org would be required to construct a physical security barrier around the playa. We're not talking the trash fence here. The document specifically mentions Jersey barriers and K-rail fencing.

    Why? To protect against....what? The handful of people that try to sneak in over via the trash fence? Jersey barriers are to protect against vehicles. What vehicles need protecting against? Has there been a rash of Mad Max-style maniacs just saying fuck it and driving in from deep playa? I don't think so.

    This is just absurd and a complete waste of money, not to mention aesthetically awful. 
    Here's what those look like:
Picture
Jersey barriers
Picture
K-rail fencing

What Can We Do?

I doubt any of you reading this like the idea of concrete barriers and k-rail fencing, and private security forces screening cars on the way in unless you're just trolling. I can see some people liking a 50k population cap scenario, and in future years I might even agree, but it'd be a terrible thing to implement this year with ticket sales already well under way. And if you think Burning Man needs more plug n ' plays, you're probably reading the wrong blog.

Mark Hall is the BLM officer who issues the SRP, and the EIS specifically asks that feedback be sent to him. ​
We like to say that Burning Man is a do-ocracy. That's true, but I believe that's the case for life generally. If you want something to happen, or oppose something from happening, do something about it, don't just complain. You may not be able to dictate the reality you want, but you can do your best to nudge it in the direction you wish. 

 His contact info is:

Dr. Mark Hall, PhD
EIS Project Manager
Black Rock Field Office
5100 East Winnemucca Blvd.
Winnemucca, Nevada 86445
(775) 623-1500


Mr. Hall's boss appears to be Ester McCullough, the district manager of the Winnemucca District Office. She can be reached at:
​
Ester McCullough
775-623-1500
[email protected]

The public comment period goes until April 29th, so make yourself heard! Mr. Hall told the Reno Gazette that, "Right now I have an open mind and I'm very curious to see what the public has to offer in terms of our analysis."

I urge you to contact Mr. Hall and potentially Ms. McCullough if you share my concerns, but to do so in a calm and informed manner. Let's paint a positive picture of Burners for Mark and Ester and not deluge them with the equivalent of all-caps emails. 

There are also going to be public hearings for comment on the EIS in Reno on April 8 and in Lovelock on April 9th. Details on them are still forthcoming as of this writing (I'll update this when I have them.)

I'm tentatively planning on being at the Reno meeting to see if I can give the reality I want to see a boost. I hope you'll consider joining me.

If you're coming, please get in touch at [email protected] and I'll put together a mailing list to coordinate as many Burners that will be at the Reno meeting as possible. I think it's important we have a tight and organized response to the items in here that need to go. 

Other Areas of Interest

There are some other interesting tidbits in here that I thought some of you might be interested in.

  • ​The Org would be required to place trash dumpsters in the city and on gate road leading to route 34 by Friday of burn week. Presumably this is to counter the fact that as a group Burners leave a large amount of trash alongside the highway.

    I know some people will get worked up about this, but ultimately as a group Burners leave a load of trash by the side of the road leading out of BM and in local communities. Yes, most of us don't do that (I encourage you to get rid of your trash at $5/bag with the locals that run trash services that week for Burners) but enough people that go to Burning Man do, and it's supremely unfair to the locals.

    If the culture of Burning Man has to bend a bit in order to mitigate some of the shit we collectively rain down on the locals, then it should. Their lives and lifestyle are more important than the event.

  • The Org has explored alternate locations both with the BLM and with private landowners, but has failed to locate a suitable one, and so a different location isn't even considered as an alternative scenario.

    I don't think that's surprising. The event has been shaped by the playa and at there are just so many strands now that tie it to that location that it's hard to move.

  • They recommend that gate road be moved to the north of the city in order to reduce the dust, since the prevailing winds out there are from the SSW-ish and the vehicles on gate kick up a ton of dust. I don't know what the practical implications are other than the dust, but I think that'd be potentially great.

  • The Org has to post a large reclamation bond to pay for any large-scale art installations or theme camps that aren't removed from the playa by participants. Direct response to the 747 team's failure to remove their art promptly? 

  • A sexual assault response team would be established in Gerlach to make it easier to comfort victims on the way to/from examination (which has to take place for purposes of rape in certain facilities which aren't, as I understand them, very easy to establish on-playa) and do it with the option of ground transport vs helicopter (the latter being enormously more expensive). It says this will also increase the rate of successful prosecutions against sexual assault offenders out there. This seems like a great thing all-around to me.
22 Comments
Nosedoctor
3/18/2019 08:04:48 am

Is this shit even for real? It seems like something out of the Onion....but there it is in the docs. Unbelievable.

Reply
Dr. Yes link
3/18/2019 08:08:58 am

Yes, unfortunately, it's real.

Reply
Liz
3/18/2019 11:40:06 am

It will all come down to a negotiation, and I think this is what you get when you ask to grow the event by the numbers they're thinking.

Earlier in the report, it mentions the BMOrg was already looking at 3rd party security.

I sometimes feel like this is a race to the bottom. To bring in more people, you need to increase the number of pNp campers. And you need more volunteers at gate. But they're less likely to volunteer for gate, so now you need to hire more staff.

And inexorably we slide towards becoming just another festival on the circuit.

The more I think about it, the more I think the Org should take a year off. Give everyone a break.

Reply
Dr. Yes
3/18/2019 01:33:00 pm

For good or ill, I don't think taking a year off is a real option for Burning Man. The Org's revenue comes almost entirely from ticket sales, and going a year without revenue would necessitate laying off most of their staff, and then trying to rebuild the team in a very short amount of time the next year. It'd be a disaster for them.

Reply
Jana
3/20/2019 12:30:01 pm

The board gets paid $150,000+ in salaries, Marian Goodell made $261,032 in 2017 I think they can afford to take a year off.

splat
3/22/2019 05:27:33 pm

That might be a viable answer for people living in a lot of places but not the Bay Area, where the poverty line hovers around $100K a year.

Adam
3/27/2019 01:10:11 pm

Yeah, $150k+ is not a high salary for a business located in the Bay Area. A board member of any for-profit here probably gets several times that, and a CEO many times that.

Kevin
3/18/2019 01:52:13 pm

In regards to the private security even if the Org was thinking about hiring private security, I just don't like the idea of them having hired goons enforcing their will.

However the most important sentence is "Third party, private security will report Closure Order violations, to include weapons and illegal drugs, directly to law enforcement as violations are observed so that law enforcement can respond."

This turns gate into a search and seizure checkpoint and really will pit the burners against Gate.

Second, I think it important to realize that this is an impact statement that was requested by BRC. BLM just didn't decide to do one on their own. We have long known that the road in can only take a certain amount of cars. This is a hard physical limit that will not change unless you expand the road. So we should be careful to not throw shade on BLM for stating the obvious facts that if you increase the number of people attending, but are capped at the total number of vehicles the difference HAS to be made up by Burner Bus/Air. More people taking both, will mean more people having to rely upon shared infrastructure to survive. I.e. Plug n Play camps.

Reply
joes shmow
3/18/2019 03:58:09 pm

The end is nearer, enjoy it while you can.

Reply
Gray Dog
3/18/2019 04:47:57 pm

As one of the many thousands who take the bus every year I want to say that it absolutely is possible to be totally self-reliant and comfortable when taking the bus. I and many others do it every year. If you doubt it, take a walk through HOVerlandia and look at the fabulous camps that come in on the bus.

Reply
Dr. Yes
3/18/2019 05:42:49 pm

Definitely possible, but many people aren't that self-reliant.

Reply
Larry
3/19/2019 07:44:42 am

I agree with most of this post, but the assumption that people who take the bus are not self reliant is regularly perpetuated on ePlaya/Reddit and now this blog, without any supporting evidence. In my experience taking the Reno BxB the last few years, the majority are flying in from East Coast population centers and have shipped their stuff to playa in advance, usually on the 'containers' coming from these cities. I don't see how when I ship my 27 ft^3 of stuff in a container to playa, and then take the bus from Reno, am any less self reliant than someone nearby who packs the same amount of crap into their car and drives.

Dr. Yes
3/19/2019 09:41:29 am

Oh sure, when you do that, you're not any less self-reliant, I agree, though there are plenty of people flying/busing in to stay with plug n' plays too - I know some of them (shame on them!).

tedd
3/18/2019 06:17:35 pm

"the (*****) are going to ruin burning man"

Reply
DustDevil
3/18/2019 09:32:29 pm

Moving gate road to the north is a good idea but where would 6:00 road be? Feng shui is fine where it is now but I’ve seen RVs going fast on the periphery causing dust storms.

Reply
Mu
3/19/2019 08:57:39 am

I would like to understand where it is we have failed in gate security and sexual assault cases. These seem like unnecessary expenses and feels like a law enforcement wish list. Also unless they actually create a place where a chain of custody rape kit can be done in gerlach it wont change prosecutions. And if they can do it in Gerlach, why not on playa?

Reply
Dr. Yes
3/19/2019 09:47:05 am

My snarky yet probably true answer is that we've "failed" in gate security by not turning over more people to law enforcement for prosecution for contraband.

I don't know the details of the sexual assault team - the claim that it'd increase successful prosecutions is from the BLM doc.

Reply
Maestro
3/19/2019 11:10:00 am

What a completely stupid bunch of considerations. Do all of those things and you won't even find 100k people who want to go. Or go ahead and do it all, but change the name to Instagram Man Festival and hold it the week after Burning Man.

Reply
Patchez
3/19/2019 12:46:38 pm

IMHO issue with the road capacity can be resolved by allowing people arrive earlier - stretch it for a few more days and everybody will fit in. Also last few years show that waiting time on the way back is substantially shorter than the time to get in, so again, road is not as big of an issue as it might seem

Reply
Doofboofer
3/20/2019 08:11:46 am

I'm not exactly sure how having dumpsters bends the culture. I mean, if it were heavily available garbage disposal all over the playa, sure, maybe. But I don't get how trash disposal at the gate affects culture at all.

I've been saying for years this needs to happen.

Reply
JV
5/8/2019 12:27:43 am

People would bring a bunch of shit they don't need knowing they could drop it off at the gate. Also, exodus would be even worse.

Reply
JV
5/8/2019 12:29:41 am

I put most of the blame here on the BMORG and its incessant need to grow the event ever larger. The suggestion of going to 100k has been floating around publicly for a few years now, this while the local infrastructure is already stretched beyond capacity during the event.

It's a miracle the event even happens every year. The BMORG's hubris will be the downfall of it.

Reply



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    I'm Dr. Yes. I run this site,   have led a couple of theme camps, was part of a Temple team, and make Burning Man videos. Just say yes, folks, and help keep Burning Man weird!

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I'm Dr. Yes, a fan of Burning Man.

Burn.Life is a non-commercial, hobbyist website  and no commerce, ads,or  paid endorsements are involved.  Any products mentioned or linked to are done so because I or people I trust have used them and I view them as reasonable recommendations. You can email me here: yes (-at-) burn (-dot-) life.
  • Blog
  • Videos
  • Year by Year HIstory
    • 1986 -1990: The Early Days
    • 1991-1996: Hypergrowth
    • 1997-2000: Maturation
    • 2001-2010: Graceful Aging
    • 2011-2015: The Age of Scarcity
    • 2016-2020: The End?
  • Preparing/Attending
    • Getting Tickets
    • Preparing >
      • Tents and Shade
      • RVs
      • Food and Water
      • Clothing & Costumes
      • Bikes
      • Cameras
      • Lag Screws 101
      • Burning on a Budget
      • Packing List
    • Getting to Burning Man (Entry)
    • Being There >
      • Adventuring on the playa
      • Art
      • Music
      • Poopin' on the Playa
      • Leave No Trace
    • Leaving Burning Man (Exodus)