Burning Man fans protest drug searches at festival
RENO, Nev. – Relations between Burning Man and federal officials have been better.
What was supposed to be a public hearing felt more like a protest from followers of the massive arts festival Monday night at the Nugget Casino Resort in Sparks, Nevada.
Nearly 200 fans of Burning Man, known as Burners, gathered at the casino to denounce federal officials’ proposal for dumpsters, drug searches and concrete barriers at the event as soon as this year.
The room was overflowing, and the line to ask questions was cut off to ensure the meeting met the three-hour time limit.
The proposed changes to Burning Man’s operations are part of a draft of an environmental report from the Bureau of Land Management. One of the primary reasons behind the report is Burning Man’s efforts to grow from an event with 80,000 people to 100,000.
“We don’t need you. We really don’t,” Jennifer Kallmes, a Burning Man participant, said to BLM officials as the crowd applauded and laughed.
From the crowd, Burners taunted “C’mon,” “Wow,” and “Idiots” at federal officials’ answers, which some deemed as non-answer answers.
Burning Man organizers and representatives sat to the side but shared in many of the moments of eye-rolling and snickering.
Marnee Benson, associate director of government affairs, disputed many of the findings of the report and noted that the Burning Man organization reimburses the BLM for all of its Burning Man-related costs, including the cost of the report.
“We pay for every minute of their time, every penny that they spend, every mile that they drive,” Benson said.
Many expressed frustration that BLM officials had not included analyses of how their suggested measures would affect the environment and community.
Burners brought up concerns that the already multihour wait times to enter the event likely would increase substantially were drug searches to be conducted upon entry. They also questioned the constitutionality of the searches, which BLM officials carefully called screenings.
Others were concerned that 9 miles of concrete barriers placed around the event would create significant sand dunes around the perimeter.
Burning Man organizers argued that the current fence, made of orange plastic netting, allows dust to pass through while catching litter gone astray.
Although Burners far outnumbered those who felt even slightly conflicted about the report, several quiet attendees did express concern about the environmental impacts of Burning Man.
Patrick Donnelly, state director for the Center for Biological Diversity, said, of the more than a hundred he’s been to, he’s never seen a public meeting about environmental matters “quite like this.”