BLM Needs VIP treatment as well.

[mdmf007]

Im flabbergasted, do not know what else to say. Its time for BMAN to buy their own chunk of land.
http://www.rgj.com/story/news/2015/06/2 ... /29318493/

My personal opinion and not as a mod.

[theCryptofishist]

BLM is now Caravansicle?

[caffeineslinger]

I'm guessing the request is coming from higher up than BLM. And in most negotiations, you ask for more than you reasonably expect and negotiate down from there.

[AliCat903]

There's a lot in there that bothers me, but this is the sentence that's sticking in my head:

"Seidlitz said that Washington, D.C., officials are concerned about upholding the standards of the "American public" and they will be coordinating visits to Burning Man while making other stops in the West."

Wtf 'standards' is he talking about here?

[digital]

Isn't Fly Ranch up for sale?

[MrBeardy]

The plug-and-play prankstars are going to have a playday with this one if it actually happens. What a joke, I hope the BMorg tells them to get lost. BLM has too much to lose if BM leaves them, we have the upperhand, not them.

[theCryptofishist]

I'm guessing the request is coming from higher up than BLM.

From what I've heard, the guys on the beat love the event. And I don't recall any incidents of heat related BLM error making their way to this board. (Not the end all of burn information, but we do collect a good deal of the flotsam in our little eddy.) Higher than BLM? Interior? President? Or higher up in the BLM...


Can you actually be a ranger and need flush toilets? Oh what strange, new world, etc.

[Lonesomebri]

Somewhere they got the idea that there was some fine living to be had out on the playa.

[some seeing eye]

If you read carefully, the "compound" would be up 34 and more like the DPW ranch. It is not on playa. 34 has electricity, they would need access to a well, and since that area is probably on septic tanks, waste would be pumped, showers and a laundromat use a lot of water. It would be much more cost efficient to fly the VIPs in and out for the day. And BLM probably has its own air fleet. If they want their own off playa compound, a bunch of RV's would do and laundry could easily be sent to Reno daily. BLM holds veto power over the event and with the BMORG nonprofit's higher profile, shit will happen.

Crypto is onto something. POTUS, presidential candidates, Senator Reid, the UN secretary, the Saudi King, Rothchilds, Bloomberg, the Dalai Lama, the Pope? Trump real estate developments? Possibilities are endless!

RGJ article: "The VIP encampment, called the Blue Pit, is a new request this year. It is in addition to the more bare-bones accommodations for the employees who will be staying at the BLM's headquarters [on Playa in perimeter near the LEO and fire dept?] , which houses up to 150 working staff during the main event.

The headquarters also are expected to have trailers with flushable toilets and sinks, though no showers or washers and dryers are requested. The headquarters will be located at the end of the 12-mile playa entry road, 12 miles north of Gerlach. The Blue Pit compound is about two miles past the playa on County Road 34 near an old gravel pit."

(actually the above RGJ article needs an editor)

[Lonesomebri]

The playa hotels are going up.

[trilobyte]

Speaking personally on all of this...

It seems like a freakishly weird request.

Like maybe Dan Love from the BLM fell for that April 1st hoax article that said Obama was planning to come to the playa so he's trying to get prepared so he can look good.

Because other than something super crazy like that (or Obama actually coming to the playa), it seems like such a ridiculous example of government over-reach that it could wind up costing people their jobs. I mean, politically speaking, it gives plenty of ammunition to any political rivals who might want to take Dan Love or his field office down (the RGJ article indicates that guy is behind most of it).

The current BLM setup is no worse than what event participants experience (much better, actually) and even event organizers experience, and my understanding is that the BLM has no trouble finding staffers who are willing to work the event. Hell, they fall over themselves for the opportunity, and I think the bureau even uses the event for training their staff.

[Elderberry]

Is that even legal? Or is the BLM actually an autonomous organization that can do what the hell ever it wants? This is totally wrong, but it seems like they have the BMORG by the balls.

[maladroit]

I've used those bathroom trailers...they're really nice. Commonly found in the VIP areas of music festivals.

My theory is that someone's husband or wife won't come unless there are nice flush toilets. Like every other bad thing that happens at Burning Man, it can eventually be traced back to marital pressure

[VultureChow]

this reads like a new person has stepped into the permitting process. A new appointee or promotion somewhere.

Sigh... What's going to happen is they will negotiate. BM will settle on something that only costs $600,000. Prices will go up by $100 next year. We will all bitch about it. We will all still go. The event will sell out. BLM will then request free pony rides and manicures.

What should happen... Settle on $600,000. Then announce at the end of the burn that 2016 is canceled while they search for a new site and/or fundraise to buy land themselves. The site won't change, but they will scare teh local towns, politiccians, businesses, blm etc. We all take a year off and go to regionals. And it's back in 2017.

[Sham]

My own personal thoughts are that we are becoming spectacles of some sort.
The BLM seems to hang around events that are lacking clothing quite a bit. They appear to be turning into voyeurs and creepy gawkers.
There is nearly no crime to speak of out on the playa, yet the higher-ups feel the need to be pampered and given full access to spy on nekkid people.
They are really looking like perverts on the playa. (your Federal dollars at work)

Just my own 2¢!

[maladroit]

I say we give them all the nakedness they can handle. Every BLM ranger and government suit surrounded by a coral reef of undulating, hairy genitalia.

[^Rhino!]

My own personal thoughts are that we are becoming spectacles of some sort.
The BLM seems to hang around events that are lacking clothing quite a bit. They appear to be turning into voyeurs and creepy gawkers.
There is nearly no crime to speak of out on the playa, yet the higher-ups feel the need to be pampered and given full access to spy on nekkid people.
They are really looking like perverts on the playa. (your Federal dollars at work)

Just my own 2¢!

My own dealings with the BLM have been good to date, no hassles or anything. Half of what they do out on playa is EDUCATE. Ten years ago, I had NO idea of the kinds of things I'd find out there in the dust. Nobody knows this or gives a damn, but we're camping almost adjacent to the Lassen and Applegate cutoffs on the old Emigrant Trail. The area is peppered with history, including archeologic finds from paleoIndians, remnants of the 1st and 2nd Nevada Regiments that led to today's Nevada National Guard, and all the associated stories from an era long past. Thanks to the BLM, I've developed an interest in, and gone so far as to research all this stuff.

Their enforcement powers are good in intent. We're not like a bunch of freaky Drainbows that trash National Forest land. Thank goodness.

Give the BLM a break and ignore them. They try to do the job they have the best they can.

[maladroit]

Give the BLM a break and ignore them. They try to do the job they have the best they can.

I'd agree but they're asking for a $1 million luxury camp, let's ignore them to the extent that they don't try to fuck us over.

[Simon of the Playa]

11046330_10152816938600633_5016567550460398881_n.jpg

[Jackass]

They're certainly pushing it with their overreaching tactics.

"Fuck renting grazing land and looking after public lands, this Burning Man thing is where it's at WOOHOO!!"

[Jackass]

They need a department to keep an eye on the other department, so they can send the memo regarding the meeting about the memo and the TPS reports...

It's a carnival of mirrors indeed...smoke and mirrors.

[Meat Hunter]

Not a rant, just a (probably incorrect) observation.

I do not have any of the numbers. But, I suggest that what BM is having to pay BLM for rent, and for local, county, state and federal law enforcement; that BM could purchase land somewhere out west with a ten year mortgage, hire and train their own security, up the ticket price just a small bit, increase the population a little more and in ten to fifteen short years they would be debt free with a good bit of money to invest in art around the world, support burners without borders and implement other humanity related causes.

I do not know even a little bit about the inner working and my observation is probably so far out in left field that it is not even remotely feasible. But, I can wish.....

[mdmf007]

So my solution - I run for the US house in Northern Nevada, all of my burner friends register in the district....

[inventory]

I did get all teary-eyed when I read this follow-up:
http://www.rgj.com/story/news/2015/06/2 ... /29357821/

[Meat Hunter]

Inventory,

One has to be a subscriber to read the article.

Is it permissible for you to copy and paste the content of the article on this forum?

[AliCat903]

And then there's this:
http://www.rgj.com/story/news/2015/06/2 ... /29357065/

"Ice Cream: This needs to be in a standalone freezer for ice cream available all day long

• Drumstick

• Choco Taco

• Individual served ice cream assorted flavors

• Popsicles

• Ice cream sandwiches"

[inventory]

Blast! I am not a subscriber but I did have to click through a two question survey to read it for free. I will repost here; if this isn't OK, mods please remove the full article quote below.

Basically Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid sent a letter to the Secretary of the Interior saying the demands were beyond the scope of the permitting requirements and, quote, "Flush toilets and laundry facilities can be found about ten miles away in Gerlach, Nevada, if BLM's employees need such amenities."



http://www.rgj.com/story/news/2015/06/2 ... /29357821/

Reid to BLM: You want flush toilets at Burning Man? Go to Gerlach
Jenny Kane, RGJ 2:48 p.m. PDT June 26, 2015

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., sent a letter Friday to Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell following the Reno Gazette-Journal's investigation into lavish demands the U.S. Bureau of Land Management made to Burning Man organizers.

Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., also reacted to the news that BLM is demanding Burning Man provide a $1 million encampment for federal agents at the event this summer. He said he's concerned about the ethics of BLM's request.

"I don't think it was driven out of Nevada. I think it was driven out of Utah, or D.C., or both," Amodei said in an interview with the RGJ on Friday. "We have a big problem. 15 VIP accommodations, and soft-serve ice cream 24-hours a day. With all due respect, those dots do not connect."

Here's Reid's letter to Jewell in full:

"Dear Secretary Jewell:

"I read today the account in the Reno Gazette-Journal of the unprecedented and extravagant requests allegedly being made by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) as conditions for permitting Burning Man for their annual event in September 2015. Burning Man has been held in the Black Rock Desert for 23 years and, in addition to the untold cultural benefits that the annual festival brings to Nevada, the event contributes an estimated $35 million to Nevada's Economy each year.

"I care strongly about the environment in the Black Rock Desert and was glad to author the legislation that created the Black Rock Desert-High Rock Canyon-Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area where Burning Man is held. While I agree that the BLM should take its permitting duties seriously and work with Burning Man to both guarantee the safety of its participants and the protection of the environment, providing outlandishly unnecessary facilities for the BLM and its guests should be beyond the scope of the permitting requirements. Part of Burning Man's philosophy is self-reliance and living with the elements is part of the experience. Flush toilets and laundry facilities can be found about ten miles away in Gerlach, Nevada, if BLM's employees need such amenities.

"I appreciate your attention to this matter. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me or have your staff contact Sara Moffat of my staff."

[^Rhino!]

Just a thought.......what if the BLM shows up to a meeting with the org, and says two simple words about their demands...

April fool!

The biggest Burningman joke of all time.

So much better than fishing for hippies.

[Jackass]

BLM top brass and The Department of The Department all have their own bucket lists too.

Flushing toilets and plumbing?! They must have been watching a youtube video of Caravansicle on their lunch break or something...

The accommodations at Bruno's no longer suits their style.

[maladroit]

I invite them to stop by my camp for free "Choco Tacos" :leer:

A more passive-aggressive protest (if this goes through): follow any BLM vehicles with a loudspeaker playing ice cream truck tunes.