Leaving No Trace

BLM Inspection Passed. #BM2016 is a GO.

By
31 comments
The combination DPW-BLM team.
The combination DPW-BLM team.

 

 

Awww, ya did it. Actual moop found today. Photo by Summer Burkes.
Awww, ya did it. Actual moop found today. Photo by @Summer_Burkes.

This morning dawned beautiful and clear, just in time for our Bureau of Land Management representatives to meet the DPW Playa Restoration team and review the site that once was Black Rock City.

Here’s what they found: very little. And that’s a good thing: once again, Burning Man has confirmed its reputation as the world’s largest Leave No Trace event.

The results of today’s inspection are NOT official. We’ll find out for sure, in writing, in a few months. However, I can tell you right now that – psst – we totally passed with flying colors.

 

“Hold on! But you haven’t finished mooping!”

Actually, we have finished line sweeping our way through the streets of Black Rock City – just yesterday, in fact. However, it takes us several days to produce the Moop Map images for you. So, for example, the map I posted yesterday reflected the results of last Monday’s line sweeps.

(Sorry for the confusion. Have you ever tried computering in this desert? It’s a slow process.)

 

“OK that makes sense. So what is this inspection again?”

NBD. This is only the most important part of the whole process. Each year, the Bureau of Land Management assesses how well Burning Man treated the Black Rock Desert (which is, of course, public land). The results of this inspection determine whether we will receive a permit to hold the event here next year.

In other words, if we fail, we can not return to the playa.

The BLM can’t inspect the entire 4.5 square mile event site in a single day, so 60 randomly-selected points throughout the city are chosen as a sampling. Each inspection point is one tenth of an acre. They cover all parts of the city, from the streets, to the Man and art sites, to the open playa.

 

 

Panorama shot of an inspection site (click to enlarge). Photo by @SFSlim.
Panorama shot of an inspection site (click to enlarge). Photo by @SFSlim.
Inspection tools: map, GPS readers, stakes and flags. Photo by @Shalaco.
Inspection tools: map, GPS readers, stakes and flags. Photo by @Shalaco.
Wee Heavy, Starchild and Kentucky with a flag marking one of the 60 inspection sites. Photo by @SFSlim.
Wee Heavy, Starchild and Kentucky with a flag marking one of the 60 inspection sites. Photo by @SFSlim.

 

 

In order to achieve success, there must be less than one square foot of moop found per acre. Therefore, each inspection point must produce less than one tenth of a square foot of moop. That’s a 3.8 inch wide square. It’s small.

And yet, once again, we passed with a visibly wide margin. Do you know how big a deal that is? It’s a tremendous accomplishment, and it’s something we all did together, as the community of Black Rock City.

From the BLM perspective, this is the most important thing. We share the same goal here, which is to return the Black Rock Desert to the way it was before Burning Man. We share your goals and the ‘leave no trace’ ethic. Thanks to all of you for this monumental effort.
— David, BLM Project Manager

 

A "full" baggie from one of the sites. Photo by @SFSlim.
A “full” baggie from one of the sites. Photo by @SFSlim.

“So how do we know we passed?”

It’s very scientific: each site gets a baggie, and into the baggie goes all the moop. Ten inspection teams, composed of Burning Man and BLM representatives, each cover about six different sites. They systematically line sweep the site, then seal the baggie and submit it.

The BLM then looks over everything that was found, and gives us the preliminary, unofficial result. Which, again, is a total pass for 2015.

Now they will go back to a laboratory somewhere and measure it all, create a detailed and much more official report, and send it to Burning Man as part of next year’s permitting process.

 

Phoenix Firestarter, Restoration Special Forces Manager, shows off the results of all our hard work. Photo by @Shalaco.
Phoenix Firestarter, Restoration Special Forces Manager, shows off the results of all our hard work. Photo by @Shalaco.

 

So first of all, let’s all thank the BLM representatives who joined us today, because they didn’t make us wait months to find out whether we passed!

And then, let’s thank our campmates, our neighbors, and our friends who took the time to moop their camps, pack it out, and Leave No Trace.

Finally, let’s give a big HURRAH for the Playa Restoration forces, who continually brave some pretty crazy conditions and do some rather brutal work in order to make sure that Burning Man keeps on rising from the dust.

THANK YOU.

As the inspection drew to a close, the BLM reps laid out all the baggies so we could see just how little was left behind from this city of 70,000. Champagne was popped and passed around. The cork landed on the playa.

“Pick it up!” someone yelled.

“No way, the inspection’s over,” said Summer. “That’s job security for next year.”

See you there.

About the author: The Hun

The Hun

The Hun, also known as J.H. Fearless, has been blogging for Burning Man (and many other outlets) since 2005, which is also the year she joined the BRC DPW on a whim that turned out to be a ten-year commitment. Since then she's won some awards for blogging, built her own creative business, and produced some of the Burning Blog's most popular stories and series. She co-created a grant-funded art piece, "Refoliation," in 2007, and stood next to it watching the Man burn on Monday night during a full lunar eclipse. She considers that, in many ways, to have been the symbolic end of Burning Man that was. The Hun lives in Reno with DPW Shade King, Quiet Earp. You may address her as "The Hun" or "Hun". If you call her "Honey" she reserves the right to cut you.

31 Comments on “BLM Inspection Passed. #BM2016 is a GO.”