BLM review process starts for Burning Man, land speed event

Brendan Riley

Tuesday, April 7, 1998 | 10:20 a.m.

CARSON CITY, Nev. - The federal Bureau of Land Management said Tuesday it's moving ahead with reviews of bids to hold two big events - Burning Man and a land speed record attempt - on Nevada's Black Rock Desert.

Ron Wenker, manager of the BLM's sprawling Winnemucca District which includes the Black Rock, said two staffers from the agency's main office in Reno will work on the Burning Man application, and a third staffer from his office in Winnemucca will work on racer Craig Breedlove's application.

Last week, Wenker said he faced a staffing shortage and had even gone outside Nevada looking for BLM employees who could take on the application reviews. He also said he hadn't been stalling, although advocates of the events said they thought they were getting a runaround.

"Processing doesn't guarantee that they'll get the permits," Wenker cautioned. "We have to go through this to ensure that all the concerns can be mitigated as best we can."

Public meetings are planned for both proposals, and in the case of Burning Man an environmental assessment will be required. The assessment for last year's land speed event on the Black Rock can be used again.

The Burning Man application will be reviewed by Margaret Wolf, the BLM's state recreation planner,and by Dan Rathbun, a special assistant to the agency's Nevada director, Bob Abbey. Breedlove's application will be handled by Lynn Clemens.

"We're probably looking at mid-June to issue a record of decision as to what we're OK'ing or not OK'ing," Wenker said. "And anyone who doesn't like the decision has a right to appeal."

Marian Goodell, who with Larry Harvey organizes Burning Man, said she's "absolutely ecstatic" about the decision to move ahead with the proposals.

"It certainly doesn't mean we're on the spot we want for sure, but what we really wanted now was to see the process start," she added.

Goodell also said Burning Man will get the environmental assessment done, and put up an advance payment to cover the BLM's various expenses that could run $45,000.

"We want to be part of the long-term plan for the Black Rock Desert, so it's in our best interests to make sure this satisfies everyone who's interested," she said.

The lunar-like Black Rock, about 150 miles north of here, has been the site of Burning Man events for several years on Labor Day weekends. Breedlove tried to break the land-speed record there last fall.

Harvey and Goodell had been frustrated by the initial delay in their application because hundreds of people already are buying $65-a-head tickets for their event, a bizarre mix of fire ritual, sculpture, performance art and sci-fi Dada carnival.

Breedlove wants a permit for his bid to break the sound barrier on the ground and return the world land-speed record to the United States. British driver Andy Green exceeded Mach 1 last October, hitting 763.035 mph.

Residents of Gerlach, the tiny town on the edge of the 400-square-mile desert, have been fretting because they depend heavily on both events for vital income. Hundreds of people show up for the land speed event, and about 10,000 people made it to the 1997 Burning Man festival.

Critics include Susan Lynn of Public Resource Associates, who says that even with well-controlled events it's hard to stop damage caused by people on their way to or from the events, or just roaming around the desert.

Authorities also have expressed concerns about drug-related problems or a desert littered with trash. But Goodell notes a Washoe County sheriff's report from last year's event showed no major drug problems. She adds that despite a hassle over trash, the 1997 site was finally cleaned up.