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The Burning Man: scandal sets the feds on fire as Black Rock City redefines public land use

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The Burning Man: scandal sets the feds on fire as Black Rock City redefines public land use

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The Burning Man: Scandal Sets the Feds on Fire as Black Rock City Redefines Public Land Use

By: Christopher Damien

Specialized Journalism

Master of Arts

University of Southern California

December 2018

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
THE CITY THAT LEAVES NO TRACE 4
THE BLM’S BURNING MAN 9
POLICING MILLIONS OF FEDERAL ACRES 14
BIBLIOGRAPHY 18

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Every year a California corporation builds a city with a population of over 70,000 people in the
Nevada desert, only to burn it all down in a week. On the last night of the event, fireworks fill
the sky. Plumes of smoke rise as the 60-foot-tall wooden man ignites. The population of what
amounts to several small Nevada counties watches, precisely ordered in a half-circle, eyes
locked on the festival’s totem as it turns to ash.

For more than two decades Burning Man, a week of camping, revelry, artistic expression,
self-sufficiency, and pyromania has attracted people from around the world. It began as the
dream of a small group of San Francisco misfits looking to create a temporary settlement in
which they could do whatever they wanted. Within a few years, the event’s managers were
charging money to ensure they could keep coming back. The event earned about $60,000 in
1994 and never stopped growing. Now the year-round operations of Black Rock City LLC, the
non-profit created to manage the event in 1999, generate over $30 million in revenue, netting
approximately $3 million to reinvest in their growing portfolio of programs and properties.
Recreation, it turns out, has become big business. (Kane 2015; Burning Man 2018a; Burning
Man Project 2016)

As Black Rock City’s radical experiment in recreation has grown, so has concern about the
negative consequences of a city on a remote playa policed by the Bureau of Land Management,
one of the federal government’s largest administrators of public land. Burning Man anticipates
a 40 percent increase in attendance in the coming years which would bring the city’s temporary
population to 100,000. Now Black Rock City LLC is in the process of renewing their special
recreation permit with the Bureau of Land Management to secure their event for the next
decade. (U.S. Department of Interior 2018)

All the while, a court case regarding the event’s law enforcement costs remains unresolved and
an unprecedented internal investigation into a BLM special agent’s misconduct at the event has
stained the force’s reputation. With looming fallout from the agent’s breach of ethics and the
agency’s mismanagement of the event laid bare, negotiations have shifted in favor of Black

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Rock City as the permit renewal process reaches its final phase this fall. As Burning Man and the
BLM wrestle over the event’s future, they are redefining how American public land can be used
for generations to come.

The City that Leaves No Trace

Burning Man takes place on nearly 15,000 acres of public land. To occur legally, it requires the
largest special recreation permit (SRP) in the nation. As the granting agency, BLM has authority
to set the criteria for issuing the permit. From assessing the impact of the event on wildlife to
ensuring a sandstorm-proof command center for law enforcement, the process is notoriously
complex. And the last two decades of negotiations have proven that neither stakeholder could
accurately conceive of just how big Burning Man could become. (U.S. Department of Interior
2018; Hendrix 2018)

Critics wonder how the event is allowed to take place on public land in the first place. The
explanation arises from a mix of profit and policy revised and expanded year after year. While it
can be baffling to the uninitiated, Burning Man’s popularity is proving that in America’s wild
places experience can be marketed to great effect. The experience that Burning Man offers, it
turns out, is a strange cocktail of collective autonomy and virtual freedom from authority.

Once tickets are checked and camp is made, inhabitants of Black Rock City are encouraged to
transform themselves into whatever they want. The itinerant city is an incubator for
redefinition. It’s teeming with intentionally temporary and occasionally beautiful art. Burners of
recent years have created art cars out of a 747 airplane, a Flintstone’s mobile, and an aluminum
shark. Theme camps host a giant snail slide, a fire-shooting pipe organ, and parties of all shapes
and sizes. It’s weird, sure. But it’s liberating, too. And it all happens for a week in the late
summer heat of August into September in a desert playa sitting on the remains of a prehistoric
lake.

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Burning Man is not for everyone. But it is the event that has thrust BLM into the next phase of
land use policy in the American West. And Nevada is the frontier festival’s obvious home. Black
Rock City is one-part “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas”; one-part the paranormal
surrealism of Area 51; one-part the clownish criminality of Reno 911; and one-part Tesla’s
industrial utopian dream of Gigafactory 1. It’s like every summer Nevada sends the world a
Snapchat dystopian settlement. Black Rock City can’t become a ghost town, because by design
it leaves no trace.

BLM calls Black Rock City by another name: the Black Rock Desert-High Rock Canyon Emigrant
Trails National Conservation Area. The area accounts for about 800,000 of the nearly 47 million
acres that the bureau manages in Nevada, a state where the federal government owns 79.6
percent of the total acreage. And apart from protecting the environmental integrity of the
conservation area, BLM is tasked with enforcing federal law. (U.S. Department of Interior 2000)

BLM manages land differently than other federal agencies that are better known. For example,
the National Parks Service is much stricter about what park-goers are permitted to do. In
popular national parks, like Joshua Tree, Yosemite, or Yellowstone, parties might occur at
campsites, but 70,000 people can’t show up and tickets can’t be sold. National parks are held in
trust for the enjoyment of the American people in their natural condition of wilderness — a
controversial designation, but largely one that people understand as unspoiled. BLM, on the
other hand, manages land on the basis of multiple use, a concept derived from the language of
the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 — which coincidentally also provides BLM
with its law enforcement powers. Multiple use could be commercial enterprises such as
logging, mining, or grazing livestock. It could also be mountain biking, rock climbing, or charging
for tickets to a huge party. It’s up for interpretation. (U.S. Department of Interior 2001)

BLM first granted Burning Man a Special Recreation Permit in 1992. While the requirements
have grown steadily from year-to-year, the current SRP renewal, which will take effect in 2019,
is the largest regulatory hurdle yet. The event’s administrators admit that Black Rock City’s

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proposed population of 100,000 has subjected the event to intense environmental analysis and
increased security concern. (U.S. Department of Interior 2018)

“We are currently developing a 10-year Environmental Impact Statement with the Bureau of
Land Management that will analyze the potential environmental impacts of Black Rock City on
the playa and nearby communities,” Black Rock City LLC said in a press release on their website.
“The analysis includes air quality, traffic, noise, night skies, cultural resources, and
socioeconomic impact.” (Burning Man Journal 2017)

In preparation for the permitting process, BLM has already held outreach meetings throughout
Nevada and solicited written comments from the public. Kyle Hendrix, one of the BLM public
affairs managers overseeing the SRP process, said the first draft of the environmental impact
study should be released this fall. (Hendrix 2018)

With Black Rock City’s unprecedented population projections and healthy revenue, BLM is
concerned with setting a sound foundation for the next decade.

“It is different than the last time we analyzed the event,” Hendrix said. “Public outreach,
soliciting comments, we need the public to help us out. With an increase of this size, it’s
Burning Man’s opportunity to tell the American people: this is what we would like to do.”
(Hendrix 2018)

Burning Man’s outsized footprint, all the while, has environmentalists worried. The 2012-2016
SRP identified that Burning Man rented 34 generators for event power. Participants used over
200 generators for art projects, over 1,000 generators for theme camps and motor homes, and
over 500 engines for mobile art and mutant vehicles. (U.S. Department of Interior 2016)

“The whole new permit they have to go through is comprehensive, with the environmental
impact statement and multiple opportunities for public comment,” said Michael Myers,

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executive director of Friends of Black Rock High Rock, an environmental organization based in
Gerlach, Nevada. “We provided comments. They’ve done a really thorough job covering the
different angles. (Myers 2018)

“I think the biggest thing we identified is the resiliency of the playa surface over several years of
drought. When it doesn’t get moisture over winter it can’t heal itself,” Myers said. “Then
there’s traffic flow on the two-lane highway, a big safety concern. Road condition and
emergency access is an issue that needs to be addressed. Sometimes the quantity of trash is in
excess of the capacity of our town.” (Myers 2018)

Nevertheless, Burning Man is redefining what is possible on America’s mixed-use public lands
by revolutionizing what is profitable in line with a market renaissance in outdoor recreating.
Even with ticket prices ranging from $190 to $1,200, on top of the $80 required car pass, Black
Rock City is at full capacity. (Kane 2018)

Granted the appropriate permits, enterprising businesses have long made money off of the
American land managed by the Department of the Interior. BLM, a sub-agency of Interior, alone
manages nearly 250 million acres for both the profit and enjoyment of the American people.
From timber to renewable energy, harvesting a private living off of public land is a function of
demand, innovation, and the ability to navigate bureaucratic red tape. And BLM is closely
counting the money. (Hardy 2017)

In early 2018, The Bureau of Economic Analysis released the first ever federal statistics
measuring the value of outdoor recreation on the American economy. They found that the
outdoor recreation economy grew 3.8 percent in 2016, 1 percent more than the overall U.S.
economy. The Outdoor Industry Association, an outdoor trade and advocacy group, reports
that in 2017 the outdoor industry generated $887 billion in consumer spending, $65.3 billion in
federal tax revenue, $59.2 billion in state and local tax, and 7.6 million jobs. Both groups

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confirm a simple truth: Americans love having fun in the outdoors and they are willing to pay
for it. (U.S. Department of Commerce 2018, 1; Outdoor Industry Association 2017, 1-8)

“I see recreation events like this increasing on public lands. We’re in a big upswing. Recreation
is very popular.” Kyle Hendrix said. “As much as we talk about people being glued to their
phones, we are seeing so many people going outside and we are much better prepared to track
the impacts.” (Hendrix 2018)

Federal agencies know that money is pouring into outdoor recreation. According to the
conditions of the SRP, BLM collects a commercial use fee of three percent of the adjusted gross
income of the event. Black Rock City’s latest numbers from 2016 indicate that they spent over
$3 million in “permits and fees” out of a total program revenue of nearly $35 million. The fees
include the cost recovery payment that Black Rock City makes to BLM to cover all costs incurred
from event planning to final clean up, including law enforcement and security fees. These funds
then get put back into the community. (Burning Man Project 2016)

“In a circuitous way, we get money,” Michael Myers of Black Rock High Rock said. “According to
the SRP, money has to come back to local organizations. It has to go back to the field office
where the event took place. Since we have cooperative agreements with BLM, we receive
funding from them and they fund our artist in residence program.” (Myers 2018)

Public land is fertile ground for controversy. Idealistic as it is, Burning Man is no exception. In
2015 Black Rock City appealed to the Department of the Interior Board of Land Appeals to
challenge the costs BLM said it incurred from that year’s event. Court documents indicate that
BLM billed $2,944,827 in direct costs plus a 22.9 percent fee for indirect costs, amounting to
about $675,000 more. Burning Man questioned both the Indirect cost accounting, a loose
category to begin with, and argued that they did not receive their fair share back once the
books showed a surplus. (Interior Board of Land Appeals 2015)

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With this appeal, Black Rock City found a strategy they are now betting big on as the permit
negotiations unfold: let BLM’s bad seeds spoil their own expense requests. According to BRC,
BLM Office of Law Enforcement and Security’s staffing determinations are excessive, confusing,
and costly. In response, BLM held their ground and provided detailed accounting of staff hours
worked, travel expenses, BLM vehicle usage, and a list of supplies and equipment they utilized.
(Interior Board of Land Appeals 2015)

But the story is much stranger than the arbitration filings suggest. The appeal marks the point
when the profitable recreation honeymoon enjoyed by BLM and Black Rock City came to an end
as the dollars didn’t seem to add up and their relationship was strained by the questionable
conduct of a notorious BLM special agent. For BLM and Black Rock City, 2015 was the summer
of Love for all the wrong reasons.

The BLM’s Burning Man

Black Rock City. 10:00 p.m. September 5, 2015.

The man is about to burn, and everyone is focused on the inner temple where the fire will start.
Special Agent Dan Love approaches a high-ranking official of the itinerant city that had risen
from the dust just a few months before and will be dust again in a week more. The woman is
slightly uncomfortable with his presence, the residents of Black Rock City are naturally
suspicious of the feds. Not to mention, the inner circle is a privileged place and in the 25-year
history of the event no law enforcement officer had ever been admitted to it — especially not a
special agent. (U.S. Department of Interior 2016b)

Love’s a different kind of fed though. In the months before 2015’s Burning Man began, he
drove out to Black Rock City as it was being constructed and built a memorial among the
temple for his sister who had died recently. And now he was at its threshold with his fiancée,
his father, and a family friend, whom he calls his uncle, asking to be granted access. Records
show he was on the clock, Love would claim 24 hours of official work time that day. But in that

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moment, he was there to mourn. And with four silver passes, the Black Rock City administrator
admitted them in sight of at least two other law enforcement agents. (U.S. Department of
Interior 2016b; 2016i; 2016j)

“Being gracious is part of Burning Man culture,” the Black Rock City official said when
questioned during the subsequent internal affairs investigation, their name was redacted. (U.S.
Department of Interior 2016j; 2016k)

Special Agent Love was with his family in the inner circle while his staff was on high alert should
the burn go wrong. Just about everyone noticed.

On September 9, 2015, a couple days after the man was burned, the first of a string of
complaints was levied against Special Agent Love regarding allegations of federal ethics
violations. The complaints would trigger a two-year internal affairs investigation with the
Department of the Interior’s Office of Inspector General. It also would give Black Rock City
grounds to protest their fee charges and begin to see that for the BLM, Burning Man was
resembling a blank check. (Department of Interior 2016b)

The relationship between Bureau of Land Management and Black Rock City had been strained
for several months. Around June, word got out that BLM had submitted its projected expenses
and Black Rock City was not pleased. In what would come to be known as “Choco Taco Gate,”
the BLM stated they needed “VIP” facilities to host guests, like agency administrators, and
further requested a supply of ice cream sandwiches and flush toilets shipped in to the remote
wilderness. The fallout was swift. Love defended himself by claiming his requests, officially
made on behalf of BLM, were in line with similar requests of other law enforcement agencies.
(Kane 2015b)

Nevada Senator Harry Reid issued a statement rebuking the BLM. Soon thereafter, investigation
transcripts reveal, Love was reassigned. But he still decided to purchase tickets for his family

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and blur his personal and professional lives. As a result, Black Rock City was angry and BLM was
under scrutiny from all sides. (Department of Interior 2016b)

BLM Special Agent Zachary Oper said in testimony to Interior’s Board of Land Appeals that
the agency needed about 84 law enforcement officers to manage the event in 2015. The BLM
planning team identified 54 uniformed patrol positions to meet the operational objectives of
the event. Uniformed patrol officers from BLM and Forest Service, called in to help, were
deployed throughout Black Rock City in five patrol sectors. Officers were divided into three
overlapping shifts, providing 24-hour coverage. They were responsible for enforcing federal
laws, regulations, event closure orders, and permit stipulations. (Interior Board of Land Appeals
2015)

“These high visibility patrols were conducted using marked law enforcement vehicles, ATVs,
UTVs, golf carts, and on foot,” Oper testified. (Interior Board of Land Appeals 2015)

The UTVs function in Black Rock City much like marked law enforcement vehicles do in cities.
Accordingly, they need to be available for security purposes at any time. (Department of
Interior 2016b)

However, on the day of the burn several high visibility patrol vehicles were serving another
purpose. Love had ordered five BLM employees to drive him, his family, Salvatore Lauro, the
director of BLM’s Office of Law Enforcement and Security (OLES), and Harry Humbert, Interior’s
OLES Director, around Black Rock City. (Department of Interior 2016b)

Andrea Ramos, a contracting officer for BLM, said during the internal investigation that she
observed Love and his family members at Burning Man 2015. She saw them, “getting off a
Kubota Utility Type Vehicle,” which she was quite familiar with because she had rented them
along with “five or six other Kubota UTV’s, from Hertz for BLM-OLES use at the event.”
(Department of Interior 2016f)

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A contract solicitation for the vehicles was made public by Ramos on behalf of the BLM Utah
State Office on July 24, 2015. Ramos and many of those interviewed for the investigation stated
that they were unsure whether the Love family tour broke policy. Director Lauro, who allegedly
was on the tour, said he saw the Love family on “4-wheelers,” but he wasn’t sure if they
belonged to BLM. If they did, he said, then it was “technically a violation.” (Department of
Interior 2016e)

Humbert, more forthcoming, said to investigators that he did see Love’s family riding on the
UTVs, which he noted were driven by a BLM employee. He even said he saw them touring the
Incident Command Post, which was not open to the public. Ultimately, Humbert said he was
unsure whether the vehicles belonged to BLM. But, again, if they did, “the restriction on the use
of government vehicles would apply.” (Department of Interior 2016c)

The Office of Inspector General investigators would find what Interior’s top officials present at
Burning Man 2015 failed to admit: Love directed five on-duty BLM law enforcement officers to
escort his family and provide security for them at the event. Love also used his privilege as a
federal officer to get sold out tickets for his family and to gain them entry to the exclusive inner
circle for the man burn. And the investigation would reveal more of Love’s misdeeds in other
projects he managed. (Department of Interior 2016b)

Mark Pirtle, a 26-year veteran of BLM and the agency’s Special Project Manager for Burning
Man 2015 offered investigators a more detailed story. He said Love called him on the law
enforcement radio to request a meeting. Love introduced Pirtle to the three family members
and asked Pirtle to give them a tour. When Pirtle declined, saying he was busy, Love asked
uniformed BLM officers to do it. But that didn’t sit well with Pirtle, and he noted to the
investigators, that Lauro was present and responsible for OLES personnel. (Department of
Interior 2016i)

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Again and again, BLM staff told investigators that Love and his family were there to mourn. That
their trip on the UTVs was a tour, yes, but that they were also used to transport the family to
the temple where Love had constructed the memorial. Their testimony indicates BLM staff
were confused about what they were and were not allowed to do, and it indicates Love
exploited this confusion. This is apparent in an email chain that shows the close relationship
between Love and a Black Rock City official as Love sought tickets to the event for his family.
(Department of Interior 2016b)

In an email a Burning Man attorney, whose name was redacted by federal investigators, wrote
to Love:

“We all care about you. If you’d allow I’d like to accompany you to the Temple for this
ceremony.” (Department of Interior 2016j)

“I’d love for you to come to the Ceremony. I may bring my parents in, with your help and
approval. The Temple has proven to be a very moving experience for me over the years,” Love
wrote in response. (Department of Interior 2016j)

Love later sent a Black Rock City attorney an email with the subject: “Temple build.” It included
five pictures of him building the monument while wearing a shirt with the words “Federal
Agent” emblazoned on the front and a firearm at his hip. (Department of Interior 2016j)

Love ended up paying for tickets at full price, after trying and failing to buy them at a discount
held for locals. He spent approximately $1,227 on his personal credit card. The event had been
sold out and Love received tickets held for special circumstances, presumably for honoring the
death. (Department of Interior 2016b)

Director Humbert confirmed that the Love family had been driven out to the temple, a “place of
mourning” for them as they grieved. (Department of Interior 2016c)

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“The Love family had gone through a lot,” Lauro told investigators. (Department of Interior
2016e)

Lauro said in an interview with investigators that Love had helped build part of the temple. And
after visiting it, he returned to Lauro in the vehicle with “tears in his eyes.” (Department of
Interior 2016e)

“The temple was the one thing at Burning Man that I can say was nice,” Love told Lauro.
(Department of Interior 2016e)

Pirtle told the investigators that Love clearly received preferential treatment. Black Rock City
considered him to be highly influential in the permitting process required for Burning Man,
Pirtle said. In spite of the better advice given to him by his peers in the BLM, Love bought the
tickets. He saw Love and his family in the inner circle of the Man Burn, each with the exclusive
silver pass provided by Black Rock City officials. Pirtle noted that it was “absolutely a special
privilege” to be there. (Department of Interior 2016i)

The Black Rock City official who provided the passes told investigators that it was “a special
privilege to access the inner perimeter of the Man Burn.” And that this was “the only occasion
where a BLM official had asked her for passes.”

According to her testimony, there is no doubt that Love was representing BLM law enforcement
when he made the request: “all law enforcement officers were on official business while
they’re at our event.” (Department of Interior 2016j)

And this preferential treatment was not lost on Humbert either. When investigators asked if
Love was treated differently by Black Rock City employees because of his status in the BLM, he

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responded: “I don’t think there is any other way you can look at it.” (Department of Interior
2016c)

But this accusation of preferential treatment is at odds with the fact that Humbert and Lauro
did nothing to stop Love. The investigation shows that Love ran the show. And his bullish
personality would be revealed as the investigation further found that he played favorites in
hiring a friend for a special agent position in Utah, he threatened subordinates who spoke with
internal affairs investigators, he mishandled evidence in an antiquities trafficking investigation,
and he deleted emails when the internal affairs investigation started to heat up. (Department
of Interior 2016b)

When Love was officially fired last September, Interior Deputy Secretary David Bernhardt said
the action was a result of serious misconduct. By that time, Lauro had been reassigned to US
Fish and Wildlife law enforcement. And Humbert had transitioned to Deputy Assistant
Secretary for Public Safety. They remain employed and BLM law enforcement remains in
turmoil. (Maffly 2017)

Policing Millions of Federal Acres

BLM’s law enforcement responsibilities at Burning Man are particularly thankless. The
philosophy of Burning Man inherently challenges authority. The passes were given because
being generous is part of the culture. But as a law enforcement officer, receiving gratuity is not
allowed. In the radical context of Burning Man, BLM’s law enforcement mismanagement
becomes apparent with every new litigation.

The appeal with the Board of Land Affairs indicates that BLM has full management of contracts
with Park Police and USFS law enforcement to bring in extra staff members. Pershing and
Washoe counties have sheriff’s deputies present. Nevada State Police and Nevada Highway
Patrol also send officers. To concerned Pershing County citizens, like David John Skelton, money
is at the center of it all. (Interior Board of Land Appeals 2015; Skelton 2018)

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“In the past, Burning Man paid BLM and BLM paid Pershing County Sheriff’s Department,”
Skelton said. “BLM then told Pershing County they should negotiate with Burning Man directly.
We didn’t ask for enough money. Our commissioners screwed themselves and the county in the
process. It sucks when you find your tax dollars are subsidizing a multi-million-dollar California
corporation. ” ( Skelton 2018)

Rural county law enforcement operates differently than agencies in larger cities, citizens say.
They believe the economic benefit that Burning Man brings does not offset the actual cost to
safety when their small forces are preoccupied with the event. They are hoping to stop the
expansion of Burning Man from 70,000 to 100,000. And they have been vocal when the SRP
renewal process has sought public comment. ( Skelton 2018)

“We have 13 sworn deputies in Pershing,” Skelton said. “From the Burners standpoint they
think they should be able to show up to our county and be completely unmolested, responsible
for nothing. It takes our sheriff’s office a month to ramp up for the event. Then they’re writing
reports and evidence through October. They’re overwhelmed by the volume of work. There is
no one we can call on if we have additional problems.” ( Skelton 2018)

The millions and millions of acres owned by the federal government have long been a topic of
controversy among a variety of groups with anti-federalist sentiments. However, the Trump
administration has offered opportunities for these groups to gain some political power. In 2017,
Trump reduced the size of several national monument designations made by previous
presidents, including the Grand Staircase Escalante in Utah, the only national monument
managed by BLM. (Turkewitz 2017)

And the attack on federal land management isn’t exclusive to the executive branch. Former
Rep. Jason Chaffetz proposed H.R.622 in January 2017 to replace BLM and US Forest Service
(USFS) law enforcement agencies with units of “local government.” The Local Enforcement for

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Local Lands Act says that the BLM and USFS agencies operating in the 28 percent of
federally-owned land in America should be terminated and outlines a formula for providing
block grants to states in order to replace them. H.R. 622 might be a longshot, but it is clear that
animosity toward federal law enforcement on American public land has gained a foothold in
government. (Chaffetz 2017)

This foothold has taken new forms in radical and sometimes violent protests by the
range-famous anti-government activists, the Bundy Family. In January, the family of the late
Robert Lavoy Finicum, a Bundy ally who was fatally shot by law enforcement while attempting
to evade arrest at the 2016 Malheur Refuge Occupation in Oregon, filed a $65 million civil suit
against the federal agencies tasked with policing the occupation, including the BLM. Both Dan
Love and Sal Lauro are personally named among the co-defendants. In June, the FBI agent that
fatally shot Finicum, Joseph Astarita, was indicted for lying about the shooting — Astarita faces
prison time as his trial unfolds. The civil suit claims that Love put Finicum on a “kill list” when he
participated in the Bundy standoff, a protest against BLM seizing their cattle for failing to pay
grazing fees, at their ranch in Nevada back in 2014. According to the Finicum family, Love, the
agent in charge at the standoff, set the fatal tone for a conflict that would later cost Robert
Funicum his life in January 2016, just four months after Love’s misdeeds at Burning Man 2015.
(Finicum 2018; Goldman 2018)

While the Bundy family is pushing protest to its legal and lethal limits to prove their point about
BLM’s mismanagement because they don’t want to pay, Burning Man is seizing on BLM’s
mismanagement to pay less and count their millions. Both are asking critical questions of
American authority: what are we allowed to do, who gets to decide, and how much is it going
to cost?

Black Rock City is profiting the most because they are monetizing people’s demand for running
wild. Burning Man is pushing for a freer, more decentralized American wilderness where a
ticket and an open mind are the only cost of entry.

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“Radical self-reliance,” Kyle Hendrix said. “Burning Man has created something absolutely
incredible. People really want to use their public land like this. And it generates a huge amount
of money.” (Hendrix 2018)

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Abstract (if available)

Abstract A conflict between the Bureau of Land Management's Office of Law Enforcement and Security and the administrators of Burning Man is redefining the use of America's public lands.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Damien, Christopher Alexander (author)

Core Title The Burning Man: scandal sets the feds on fire as Black Rock City redefines public land use

School Annenberg School for Communication

Degree Master of Arts

Degree Program Specialized Journalism

Publication Date 10/12/2019

Defense Date 12/01/2018

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag Bureau of Land Management,Department of Interior,federal police,OAI-PMH Harvest,public land use policy

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Winston, Diane (committee chair), Ambinder, Marc (committee member), Tolan, Sandy (committee member)

Creator Email cdamien@usc.edu,chris.a.damien@gmail.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c89-76486

Unique identifier UC11671510

Identifier etd-DamienChri-6830.pdf (filename),usctheses-c89-76486 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-DamienChri-6830-0.pdf

Dmrecord 76486

Document Type Thesis

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Damien, Christopher Alexander

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA