BLM approves annual Burning Man celebration

Tuesday, June 22, 1999 | 9:34 a.m.

The event at which just about anything goes - or comes off - is scheduled for Aug. 30 through Sept. 6 on the sun-baked dry lake bed 100 miles northeast of Reno.

In its environmental assessment report, the BLM found the festival would have "no significant impact" on the desert environment.

The event, now in its 15th year, draws more than 15,000 people to the remote desert and culminates in the burning of a 50-foot wooden figure.

"I'm trying to get used to the idea that there's no crisis this year," said Larry Harvey, event founder and director. "This year the art will be spectacular and I wouldn't be surprised if we hit 20,000 people."

A few vehicle-related injuries and one death three years ago brought bad publicity to Burning Man and the following year the event was on private land. That year, the Washoe County Commission slapped hundreds of expensive restrictions on the festival.

Aside from a handful of drug arrests, the 1997 event went smoothly, as did the 1998 Burning Man which was held on BLM-managed property, the same spot on the playa as this year's festival.

Les W. Boni, BLM assistant field manager, said the environmental report covered traffic control, off-site garbage abatement, the designation of an alternative site if the desert is too wet in August and plans for a temporary runway for aircraft.

This year, neither Washoe nor Pershing county officials opposed the event during the BLM permitting process.

We've been doing more advanced planning with the agencies," Harvey said. "I think everyone feels better about it now."

In previous years, Burning Man organizers faced critics who complained the event would draw drug users and counter-cultural misfits to the remote desert. Media reports often focused on open drug use, weird costumes - or the total absence of any costumes at all.

Harvey said observers discovered the festival was "not just a counter-cultural bash. It's a populist thing. We get a really diverse group of people out there and it's become the biggest outdoor arts festival in the world.

"At first glance, it may be a post-apocalyptic hippie hoedown, but when you delve under the appearances, there's the art."

This year's Black Rock City, a temporary desert community which will rise from the treeless lake bed, is to be themed around a "Wheel of Time."

The wheel is on an axis radiating out from the figure which will be burned at the end of the event and will feature artwork, theme camps, historical camps and performances.

The ticket price for the event started out at $65 and is now $90 until July 31, when it jumps to $100. The prices are designed to encourage early reservations and to cover organizational and cleanup costs.

So far, organizers said, about 10,000 people have tickets, most of them purchased on the Internet, Harvey said.