BLM announces Burning Man closure

The long parade of counter-culture warriors headed for the Black Rock Desert that brackets the Labor Day weekend in the days before Aug. 27 this year will again lead to the closure of a portion of the area. The site of Black Rock City, where twice as many people as live in Carson Valley will take up residence for the week, will be closed to the public July 31 through Sept. 20, according to a release issued by the Winnemucca District Office of the Bureau of Land Management. The festival's permit allows nearly 70,000 people to spend the week before Labor Day camped out in the desert north of Gerlach. The temporary closure affects 14,153 acres, or about 13 percent, of the Black Rock playa within the Black Rock Desert-High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area. It reserves the eight mile entrance to the Black Rock Desert playa solely for Burning Man ticket holders, but all other playa access points and nearly 87 percent of the playa remains open to public use. The temporary closure will remain in effect three weeks prior to and three weeks following Burning Man in order to set up and break down the event...more