Burning Man will burn after BLM spat resolved

All the "Burners" out there can rest easy -- this summer's Burning Man desert festival has been greenlighted by federal officials. The annual gala in northern Nevada's Black Rock Desert last week received a needed permit from the Bureau of Land Management ahead of its scheduled Aug. 30 kickoff, festival organizers announced on the event's website. The weeklong counterculture festival -- which attracts tens of thousands of participants known as Burners and culminates with torching a giant effigy -- is slated to run through Sept. 7. BLM gave the go-ahead after a public feud over the specifics of the permit. Controversy erupted earlier this summer after reports that BLM was demanding the festival build a new compound for agency "VIPs" with "flushing toilets to be cleaned daily by Burning Man staff, a laundry with washers and dryers, on-demand hot water, air conditioning, vanity mirrors, refrigerators and couches." That prompted Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to write to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, saying part of the festival's philosophy is "living with the elements" and calling BLM's demands "outlandishly unnecessary". Event organizers and BLM officials agreed to eliminate a proposed second BLM facility, the festival's website says, and BLM will use the same catering contractor as Burning Man. Burning Man agreed under the permit to cap attendance at 70,000 at this year's event. The annual event -- started in 1986 on a San Francisco beach -- has attracted more than 50,000 visitors each year since 2010, according to organizers. During the event, Black Rock City becomes Nevada's sixth-largest city, according to BLM. Event operations occupy about 4,400 acres of public land for seven weeks, from preparations in mid-August until final cleanup in early October...more