Supporting Burning Man Radical Logistics for a Radical Event

SUPPORTING BURNING MAN RADICAL LOGISTICS FOR A RADICAL EVENT

Photo: National Renewable Energy Lab

ach summer, tens of thousands of Rock Desert playa in Nevada. A group of MATTHEW GRUNENWALD people journey to the Nevada des- friends held the first event in 1986 on a ert by land and by air to participate beach outside San Francisco, California, The author is a professional pilot, in a unique event. For one week, intending it as a means of expressing Colorado Springs, Colorado; a the volume of traffic on nearby des- youthful angst by burning a wooden Eert roads and at an otherwise sleepy air- effigy, the “Man,” as a symbol of release— Ph.D. candidate at Embry-Riddle port rivals the operational volume at some physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Aeronautical University; and of the largest highways and commercial Attendees spontaneously sang, danced, Deputy Safety Officer, Black Rock airports in the country. A modern-day and told stories. City Municipal Airport, Nevada. Brigadoon—the mythical Scottish town Today, Burning Man is based on princi- that magically appears and disappears ples that support a community organized once every 100 years—the event is known on the idea that all art activities, transpor- as the Burning Man Festival in Nevada. tation, food, clothing, and shelter are provided by the individual participants. Within What Is Burning Man? the greater community of Burning Man Perhaps its questionable reputation are thousands of individuals who pool precedes this article. The event’s website resources and assemble at themed camps provides some insight, starting with a or in groups sharing common interests or “Welcome Home” message presented in modes of expression. multiple languages (1). Burning Man is an Burning Man brings people together art festival, a music venue, a community, from all over the world to challenge their and is located in the desert—but what is Above: The Burning Man Festival is a traditional realities through art, entertain- small city—with an airport and other it, really? ment, and other activities. The event has infrastructure—that appears in the middle of Burning Man is an experimental art grown to include 80,000 annual partic- the Nevada desert each August to celebrate community event held annually in late art, music, and community. ipants, or “Burners,” on the Black Rock August and early September on the Black Desert playa (see Figure 1, page 18) near

TR NEWS January–February 2020 › 17 Photo: Rusty Blazenhoff, Flickr Photo: Duncan Rawlinson.co A small aircraft arrives at the Burning Man encampment. Traffic to and from the event can cause a 10-hour drive through the playa.

the northwest Nevada town of Gerlach, the city. Streets, avenues, art—everything teers begin installing these lanes and other population 206 (2). This area is part of the is carefully organized for easy naviga- needed infrastructure as early as June, after High Rock Canyon national conservation tion. The incongruence of its painstaking the seasonal flood waters on the playa area and is managed by the Bureau of organization with its brief existence offers subside. Many work weekends are spent Land Management (3). Although not the many lessons—especially from the cre- planning for and moving massive amounts most hospitable of places, it is the site of ation, management, and removal of Black of equipment, supplies, building materials, Burning Man’s annually established com- Rock City Municipal Airport. heavy construction equipment, and stor- munity, Black Rock City, which brings life age or sleep containers into place. to the area for one week in late summer. Preparing for Upon arrival at the festival, passengers Far from being disorganized and Burning Man in every vehicle are greeted by a gate haphazardly assembled, Black Rock City is Because the festival is in such a remote attendant with a warm hug, a “welcome formed within a pentagon-shaped bound- place, travel to and from the event is home,” and the opportunity to ring a bell ary. Living areas are arranged in a circular an experience in itself. Vehicle traffic on after making a dust angel on the ground— layout that stretches across the 2 miles of opening day and exit weekend is so heavy an introductory rite proclaiming an that car travelers can easily exceed 8 to 10 attendee’s first participation in the event. hours in line just to leave the playa—this in Attendants also ensure arrivals have tickets addition to the drive down Nevada SR-447 for each occupant of the vehicle, along through Gerlach, across the Pyramid Lake with sufficient provisions of food, cloth- area, and back to civilization. These roads ing, shelter, and water. Each participant were never intended to handle the volume receives a guidebook with key information, of traffic that they now see before and after from location of medical facilities to yoga the event. Consequently, a considerable session times to where to get the perfect amount of planning and organization is cup of Oolong tea at 2 p.m. each day. needed to prepare for such traffic volume. For most people, Burning Man festival Black Rock City Airport is nine days in the desert, but the Burning In adherence to the principles of Burning Man organization recruits hundreds of Man, Burners who are pilots historically volunteers and spends thousands of hours sought to reduce their travel time by flying over the entire year reviewing feedback in and out of the event, using open space and adjusting the design of Black Rock on the playa to land and store their aircraft. City for the next year’s event. Paved high- Over time, this mode of transportation at- ways lead to the entrance of the playa, but tracted additional attendees. What started although the asphalt ends there, the drive as a self-reliant travel method evolved into does not. Ten surveyed lanes, marked with a regional airport that now serves the more traffic cones and flag tape, stretch across than 4,000 Burners who use some form of 5 miles of playa dust, funneling the cars, air travel to get to the festival. buses, recreational vehicles, and cargo The airport is just one part of the transportation network that continually FIGURE 1 Black Rock Desert Playa. vehicles to the front gate entrance. Volun-

18 ‹ TR NEWS January–February 2020 Photo: Rusty Blazenhoff, Flickr Photo: Duncan Rawlinson.co More than 4,000 travelers arrive at Burning Man by plane. Airport runways, taxiway access, and ramp spaces are designed months before the event, using traffic cones, temporary fencing, or flags.

recreates itself each year. Located 1.5 miles areas are clearly marked with traffic cones, blades. Water trucks during the event help from Black Rock City, Black Rock City Mu- temporary fencing, or flag ribbons. Other keep the dust down; afternoon wind and nicipal Airport (assigned the international teams arrive in trucks bearing sheds; build- dust storms are common on the playa. airport code K88NV) consists of more than ing materials; and storage containers filled 100 general aviation aircraft, hundreds of with tools, supplies, electric generators, and CONTROL TOWER volunteers, three runways, four heliports, disassembled structures that need to be A temporary air traffic control tower is and multiple fuel farms, as well as char- placed, reconstructed, and powered. constructed and staffed by professional air ter operations and medical services. The Overshadowing everything the airport traffic controllers and trained volunteers. airport is staffed by a team of volunteers team must deal with before, during, and Because of the concentration of aircraft who manage the operations and handle after Burning Man is the issue of rising arriving, departing, and transiting the area, all related safety and medical logistics. dust from continuous impact by vehicle flight procedures have been established that Many of these Burners work in the aviation and aircraft tires, propellers, and rotor all pilots using the airport must use. They industry and collectively possess the skills, are required to study, be tested on, and knowledge, and ability for the Burning understand the procedures before arrival. Man community to operate an airport. Three separate radio frequencies for arrivals and departures, the tower, and the WORK OF THE AIRPORT TEAM ground are used to track all aircraft in the The airport team is hard at work as soon area associated with Burning Man. Airport as the previous year’s festival ends. The staff also must track aircraft that are not airport team meets to collect feedback, part of the event, including those using identify what did not work, and strategize the adjacent military airspace and curious on best practices. The airport staff core onlookers in overflying aircraft. These team shares feedback through online nonparticipants must be identified quickly Photo: Rusty Blazenhoff, Flickr options—many Burning Man participants and their whereabouts communicated to Rising dust from the desert is a constant are from Silicon Valley, so technology is a challenge for pilots and organizers. all Burner-related air traffic. ready solution—as well as biweekly staff meeting calls and quarterly face-to-face retreats. Most of the costs to participate in the festival are borne by attendees on Burner Express an individual basis, and this encourages creative approaches—necessity oftentimes For Burners who wish to travel by air rather than by land, Burner Express being the mother of invention. is a contract charter air transportation service that transports Burners During the June work weekends, from the California cities of Burbank, San Carlos, and Oakland and from the professional surveyors volunteer to laser Nevada cities of Reno and Las Vegas. Burner Express facilitates the flight survey the runway alignments and ramp bookings for passengers for an additional fee, one not included in the Burning spaces, using specific measurements for Man ticket price. Aside from being a faster form of transportation, air travel length, width, and taxiway access, along reduces traffic on the already-congested roadways to Black Rock City. with short- and long-term parking for large and small aircraft of all types. All of these

TR NEWS January–February 2020 › 19 Photo: Duncan Rawlinson.co Photo: Duncan Rawlinson.co Temporary control towers are constructed and staffed by Despite the temporary nature of the airport, passengers still go professional air traffic controllers and trained volunteers. through gate security to ensure safety.

All participants understand that the com- test online in advance. These pilots then RUNWAYS plexity of this situation, if managed poorly, receive an authorization code and, when Two professionally surveyed runways are can result in very serious consequences. landing, present this code over the arrival used during the event—one for large Black Rock City Municipal Airport is frequency with their intent to land. aircraft and the other for small aircraft. The included in the Federal Aviation Admin- Once cleared to continue flying in, airport is operated under general aviation istration (FAA) Klamath Falls aeronautical pilots announce their position using the and air charter rules (no commercial airline sectional chart as a private airport. It assigned radio frequency and follow service is provided) and can accommodate is actively overseen by FAA’s Reno and standardized arrival procedures described a range of operations, including scenic Oakland Flight Standards District Offices, during the online test. These procedures flights, medical flights, unmanned aerial as well as the Oakland Air Route Traffic ensure adequate spacing for inbound and vehicles, ultralight aircraft, parachute jump- Control Center, which controls the over- outbound traffic, larger and smaller air- ing, and overflying military aircraft. As at laying airspace. Permission to land at the craft, and scenic tours that may be flying many airports in the United States, 24-hour airport requires pilots to pass a knowledge around the city at any time. ramp and gate security ensure the safety both of aircraft and of the participants. Black Rock City Municipal Airport also has a designated area reserved for chartered flights, a ticketing and customs area, and a waiting area for those wishing to take scenic flights being offered by fellow Burners. Transportation to and from the airport is provided during the week by volunteer art car drivers. Passengers never know if they will be picked up in a vehicle resembling a land yacht or trolley car—or by a driver sporting a space alien head covered in fur. Bicycles—the primary means of transportation at Burning Man— are available free of charge, on a “use as needed” rack. Records show that more than 3,600 arrival and departure operations occurred during the 2018 Burning Man event, even though the airport only operated during the day and in good weather conditions. Additionally, more than 5,800 passengers Image: FAA used the Burner Express, representing The FAA Klamath Falls aeronautical sectional chart displays Black Rock City Municipal more than 7% of the total Black Rock City Airport as a private airport. It is situated within the Reno military operations area, or MOA, airspace. population for that year.

20 ‹ TR NEWS January–February 2020 Principles of Burning Man Festival

The following is a summarization of the 10 principles 6. Communal effort means that everything is a as written by the Burning Man founder Larry Harvey collective effort. “No man is an island” takes on in 2004: real significance in a community bound together 1. Radical inclusion means that all people are wel- for its collective existence. come, regardless of different backgrounds. 7. Civic responsibility ensures that each community 2. Giving reflects the intent both to give and to re- member assumes responsibility for their commu- ceive freely. Gifts can be virtually anything, from nity. Participants should lead by example and be- a hug of encouragement to a meal. have according to local, state, and federal laws. 3. Radical self-reliance means that each Burner is 8. “Leave no trace” means that, once complete, responsible for their own food, clothing, shelter, the event disappears into the desert without any medical supplies, water, sunscreen, decisions indication that a very large community had been about activities, and safety. established and had thrived there for more than a week. 4. Decommodification strips away the commercial- ization, branding, and monetizing of everything. 9. Participation invites all Burners to engage in The only things that money buys at Burning work and play. The community grows, with each Man are coffee and ice, which are available at participant contributing. Center Camp. 10. Immediacy means engagement in daily activities, 5. Radical self-expression encourages participants along with being fully present and connected to to be and express themselves as they are. other Burners in the moment. Self-expression can be a challenge to new Burn- The original text can be viewed at https://burningman. ers, who may see the event as a spectator sport org/culture/philosophical-center/10-principles. instead of as a participation event.

Comparative data for commercial At the airport, specific volunteers— REFERENCES airline service airports in Nevada the same some of whom have now spent a month 1. Welcome Home. Burning Man, 2019. www. week in 2018 (for both day and night or more on the playa—lead the decon- burningman.org. Accessed Oct 23, 2019. 2. Gerlach, Nevada. City-Data.com, 2019. www. operations and in all weather conditions) struction of the event. These individuals city-data.com/city/Gerlach-Nevada.html. show that Las Vegas had 12,966 opera- see to it that every aspect of the “leave Accessed Oct 23, 2019. tions, North Las Vegas had 4,722 opera- no trace” principle is fulfilled. Teams walk 3. Black Rock Desert–High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails NCA. Bureau of Land Management, U.S. tions, and Reno had 3,686 operations (4). the length of the runways to remove any Department of the Interior, 2019. www.blm. debris generated from aircraft landing or gov/programs/national-conservation-lands/ Leaving No Trace caused by aviation operations. The fences nevada/black-rock-desert-high-rock-canyon- emigrant-trails-nca. Accessed Oct 23, 2019. All good things eventually must end, and come down, the buildings and structures 4. Air Traffic Activity System (ATADS): Airport the end of the festival occurs with the are disassembled, and the traffic cones are Operations. Federal Aviation Administration, burning of the Man. So who cleans up? picked up. Everything is organized into 2019. https://aspm.faa.gov/opsnet/sys/Airport. asp. Accessed Oct 23, 2019. Given the festival’s impact on the playa, storage containers that will once again be the neighboring towns of Gerlach and Pyr- hauled offsite, where they will wait to be amid Lake, and nearby highways, Burning reopened, accounted for, and reconstruct- Man event organizers partner with local ed for another Burn. areas and the Bureau of Land Manage- ment to ensure that the playa is restored to its former state. The goal is that the This article is adapted from a presen- only traces of the event remain in photos tation by the author at the 98th TRB and in the minds of the attendees. Clean- Annual Meeting in January 2019. For up requires another group of volunteer more information, visit https://annual Burners, who help maintain the balance meeting.mytrb.org/interactiveprogram/ with the communities that share the playa Details/10940. as a resource.

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