2012 BLM Permit issued

[homo ardentum]

Hot off the press! BLM has granted a ONE YEAR permit for 2012. Looks like they want folks to behave before issueing the full 5 year permit.

The proposed action and all recommended mitigation measures have been selected for implementation, subject to the following conditions:

1) The SRP for the 2012 event may only be for a one-year permit, rather than a five-year permit as proposed. Should BRC comply with the terms and conditions of their 2012 permit, issuance of a multi-year permit for 2013-2016 may be considered.

2) The SRP for any year is subject to cancellation or modification during the permit period based upon performance of the permittee, changes in law, regulation or policy, changes in resource conditions, or upon newly available information.

3) Authorization for any event during the 2012-2016 period is subject to a separate SRP decision. Prior to issuance of any year’s SRP decision, a detailed review and evaluation of the previous year’s event will be conducted; as necessary, the special stipulations will be modified (and evaluated under NEPA) to address issues and concerns raised during the previous event or otherwise identified for the applicable year’s event. Additionally, each year’s SRP decision and/or the special stipulations attached thereto will specify the maximum population allowed for that year’s event. The maximum population authorized in any year may not exceed 70,000 participants, as that term is defined in the EA unless the requisite additional NEPA analysis is completed.

In 2012, BRC is required to keep the maximum population from exceeding 60,900 people at any point in time during the event. BLM is also requiring BRC to comply with 13 permit conditions and 50 stipulations. Stipulations relate to matters such as event set-up, signing, security, public safety, resource management, debris removal, fee calculation and payment, and event take-down and clean-up. These stipulations are attached to and made part of the EA decision record and special recreation permit.

[junglesmacks]

Do I smell a late release of 3k more tickets?!?

[theCryptofishist]

60,900, huh...

[VultureChow]

Actually, if they're smart, they won't release a large amount of new tickets, and surely not enough to get within 1,000 of the limit.

I'd say the overpopulation of last year is the biggest issue BLM had in terms of not granting a 5 year permit. If they come in at or under the permitted size, that would go a long way to getting the approvals they need.

At this point, it seems like much of the fallout in terms of ticketing has already happened. People are finding tickets or making alternate plans. They could quietly feed say 1,500 tickets into STEP and open it up for a few new applicants without making a huge production out of it.

[trilobyte]

Giving this a nudge over to Politics and Philosophy, where BLM/permitting discussions usually live.

The change in maximum population (from the initially proposed 58K) was to accommodate a change in the way BLM accounted for staff and support personnel on the playa. There will be no additional tickets going on sale for this year's event.

[theCryptofishist]

Thanks for the clarification, trilo. Honestly, I was surprised by the figure, not really thinking it would lead to more tickets...

[VultureChow]

2,900. Are there really that many staff and support personnel or does that include vendor passes too? Just curious. It's not that many considering a city population of over 50k, but I guess I didn't realize the manpower that goes into it.

[junglesmacks]

My guess is that "staff and support personnel" is a very loose term.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cronyism

[theCryptofishist]

There's a lot of man power...
I'm not sure how many people that would equal if everyone who worked there were employees working 40 hours. I don't think most volunteers work that many. (Just observing that the number of bodies would probably out number how many there would be if it were a job and not an avocation...)
And, after going over last year... And a lot of staff bought tickets at full price, or maybe discounted rate...
First year volunteers are going to pay full price unless they have a very in demand skill set.

[trilobyte]

Support personnel includes all the people involved with outside services as well as city support. The agreed-upon number also likely also factors in some headroom to ensure that the population cap is not exceeded.

[lemur]

http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/wfo/blm_ ... g_man.html stroll through memory lane here..


and a link to the actual PDF: https://www.blm.gov/epl-front-office/pr ... ng_Man.pdf

[lemur]

who knows when theyll actually open the gates.. but they do say this in the 2012 SRP.. something alluded to in the environmental assessment..


The event would last 192 hours (8 days) starting no earlier than 12 PM on the Sunday that
falls eight days before Labor Day and ending no later than 11 :59 PM on Labor Day. For
2012, the event would officially commence at 6:00 PM on August 26th, the Sunday before
Labor Day, and would end at 6:00 PM on Monday September 3rd, Labor Day.

this would probably jive with whats happened at least the past 2 years with a 'soft open'.

of course.. youll probably want to see something official before showing up so early.. so uhh. dont plan it just yet! wait for the JRS/official info/twitter feed on the day of gate opening..

[VultureChow]

And I don't think the population limit includes vendors and contractors:

From the SRP: "The maximum authorized population (also referred to as the population cap) at any point in time during the event is 60,900 participants (as per the definition of "participant" in the EA)."

From the EA: "The population includes all attendees of the event, including paid participants and volunteers. The population does not include government person-nel, Humboldt General Hospital emergency service providers, vendors and contractors"

Still can't find "participant" as a defined term, though.

[BBadger]

I wonder how much of that total includes people who sneak in? Isn't it a few thousand by estimates?

[SquirrelHead]

It would be awesome if they were able to clear out the STEP queue! I know 3 people that would be very happy if they did.

[AntiM]

Is this the year they crack down on those who stay until Tuesday morning? Or those who stay "to clean up" without being an official part of a department/village/theme camp? Have late stay passes similar to early entry?

[VultureChow]

If anything, I'd think the BLM would want to encourage a gradual exodus. Less stress and congestion on the road. The org would have the bigger issue if it held up their playa restoration, but again, the benefits of a gradual exodus outweigh the drawbacks.

The 2011 permit simply had the dates, Sunday through Monday, with no times. It seems more like a change in their legal policy to stipulate times on their permits than to crack down on exodus procedures.

Could be wrong though.

[Boijoy]

interesting topic. I wonder if they consider the numbers of participants who leave early? I'm part of the set up crew at our camp & I leave either Friday or Sat. morning before the burn. I've never seen anyone make note of my departure.

[theCryptofishist]

interesting topic. I wonder if they consider the numbers of participants who leave early? I'm part of the set up crew at our camp & I leave either Friday or Sat. morning before the burn. I've never seen anyone make note of my departure.

They keep a running total. Somehow.

[theCryptofishist]

If anything, I'd think the BLM would want to encourage a gradual exodus. Less stress and congestion on the road. The org would have the bigger issue if it held up their playa restoration, but again, the benefits of a gradual exodus outweigh the drawbacks.

I think that someone was encouraging this on this various board. But I've completely forgotten if it was with or without the aegis of the llc.

[Boijoy]

interesting topic. I wonder if they consider the numbers of participants who leave early? I'm part of the set up crew at our camp & I leave either Friday or Sat. morning before the burn. I've never seen anyone make note of my departure.

They keep a running total. Somehow.

Must be from space. The kid that checked me out last year didn't seem like he could count his fingers.

[theCryptofishist]

Well, they know the check in from the ticket stubs.
I guess they do stop and talk to people on the way out, ask if they want ot pay the re-entry.

[lemur]

even a mouse can press a button

[BBadger]

I think they also have video cameras watching the gate 24/7 too. They probably just estimate how many people enter from the number of cars. Figure that 3 people average per car, 5 people per RV, etc. Hell, the number of cars might even be the more useful metric than people.

[trilobyte]

As I understand it, the number and type of vehicles is tracked. Plus if I remember correctly from the Environmental Assessment, there are plans to conduct a new oil drip analysis either this year or next year (or maybe both years).

[C187]

even a mouse can press a button

That's trade secrets! Who told you about the clicker and the mouse!?!?