I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream For Ice Cream. The organizers of the famous Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert have been faced with a bizarre demand from U.S. land managers that the counterculture event supply special lodging, ice cream and other amenities to their staff working at the event. This includes 24-hour access to Chobani Greek Yogurt and a standalone freezer with Drumstick and Choco Taco ice cream for members of the United States Bureau of Land Management. The federal agencies have been steadily tacking on costs on the events and increasing the fees from $1 million in 2011 to an anticipated $5 million this year. The special compound for federal employees have been estimated to cost as much as $1 million.
Members of Congress have complained in letters that the demands are excessive and self-serving. Burning Man is now a major attraction for state businesses, bringing 70,000 people to the Black Rock Desert in northern Nevada — with an estimated $35 million to the local economy each year.
The Bureau also demanded a so-called Blue Pit lodging facility that would have restroom trailers with flushable toilets, a washer and dryer room for laundry, and what have been called VIP accommodations in so-called “container apartment” units.
U.S. Representative Mark Amodei, a Republican representing the district, called the demands “the Black Rock Desert version of the Four Seasons hotel.” The Bureau has not responded.
By the way…
Thanks Paul (and Dusty) for pointing out the distinction of the United States Forest Service, the BLM, and the Department of the Interior.
I look forward to your explanation that the legislative branch of government is composed of two bodies – the House of Representatives and the Senate. (Big Government is all so complicated)
However, I will understand if Paul is pressed for time. He is still trying to figure out why a marriage license issued in Massachusetts won’t be valid in Alabama.
Keep up the good work, Paul! Your unwillingness to give up in the face of adversity serves as a portrait in courage for those of us who are so woefully uninformed. (or as someone wrote yesterday, the ‘uniformed’)
doctoryes –
That is your quote. As you know by this time the NPS and the BLM are under the Dept of the Interior and are separate divisions.
doctoryes:
“News Flash – We are not, and haven’t been for some years, in a recession – much as that must annoy you.” Tell that to the 26% of young African Americans who are unemployed.
We’ve discussed this at length – the underemployment, people making do with multiple part time jobs, and those who have given up on work and dropped out of the employment figures altogether.
I would actually be thrilled to be in a robust economy.
“There is no danger of a failure of capitalism here.
The event is on your land. The BLM charges a fee for its use. If you would rather the LLC get the use of your land for fee, please contact the BLM to make your wishes known.”
I did not say they should use BLM land for free. I said that increasing fees by 400% and demanding a particular brand of ice cream and VIP quarters for BLM staff was excessive. Professor Turley also found the demands excessive. I also pointed out the basic mathematical problem: increase the operating expenses enough and the business closes or finds another venue. I do not know where that line is with Burning Man. Since they’ve gotten Congress involved, I assume that they, too, find this excessive.
If a doctor’s malpractice premiums and rent increases by 400% over the course of 4 years, that might be a problem, even if he is rich and therefor inherently bad, to some people. Or, the horrors, a capitalist who does not want us to all eat stale Socialist bread.
Actually, there is hot debate about grazing rights and logging fees being too low. I don’t think anyone thinks $5 million is too low to charge for a venue.
. Since apparently none of you have access to google, allow me to be of service:
“About Us
Burning Man is a network of people inspired by the values reflected in the Ten Principles and united in the pursuit of a more creative and connected existence in the world. Throughout the year we work to build Black Rock City, home of the largest annual Burning Man gathering, and nurture the distinctive culture emerging from that experience. The hub of this global network is the 501(c)(3) non-profit Burning Man Project, headquartered in San Francisco, California.”
Burning Man is considered a cultural event. You know. Stuff like Art. Lotsa hippies.
I could do more boring tax expounding and discuss 501-c 5’s but I won’t…You’re welcome 🙂
…….it is time to have cocktails on the deck.
They the Burning Man LLC can also be tax exempt under a 501-c 4 status. Depends on what they DO with their profits and affects how donations to them are treated. 501-c 3 are tax deductible. Donations to a 501-c 4 are not.
Actually an LLC or other form of business can be certified as a non profit. They just need to run under the IRS rules and the purpose that the organization was formed. Most non profits are charitable in which case they are a 501-c 3 and can accept tax deductible donations. Others are 501-c 4 status, which are things like the US Chamber of Commerce.
If the Burning Man LLC has a charitable purpose (which I have no idea) then they could be tax exempt under the 501-c 3 status.
Paul is correct about BLM and the USFS. Different agencies. One for National Forests and developed recreation type lands. BLM for wildlands and in our particular area grazing rights, mining and other economic uses of undeveloped lands.
If they were called the Burning Tea Man Party the IRS would be on them like Ray Rice.
pinandpuller –
If it was the Burning Man Tea Party it would still be getting approval at the end of the Obama administration.
Be assured it is a non-profit. (Look it up, if you doubt me.) Their non-profit reorganization followed some board member unpleasantness. I’m sure they all had reliable attorneys.
The NFL is (was?) A non profit too, right?
Sounds legit.
pinandpuller – depends on the state laws from what I can find on the InterWeb. 🙂
Once again – Dusty gets it.
There’s no denying the problem of officious dicks that are found in all law enforcement. But we have wonderful National Parks and I’m happy to have the BLM manage them. It is a shame that Congress cuts back the budget for the maintenance of our parks.
doctoryes – both the National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management are under the Department of the Interior, but different divisions.
If you would rather the LLC get the use of your land for fee, please contact the BLM to make your wishes known.
If it [Federal Government owned lands] were actually MY land then BLM would be such d!cks about letting all of us citizens/the people have access to it then.
Actually, I do appreciate the USF and associated groups that manage and take care of the forest lands that surround us. They make nice well maintained campgrounds and keep the undergrowth down in most places to help stave off forest fires and who fight the forest fires. I don’t mind paying to enter the parks because it goes, even more than my taxes do, to the direct upkeep of the camp grounds, amenities and provides for the “camp hosts”. Really nice people who spend the season at the various grounds and help out the touristas. The campgrounds keep those dopes who think that the wilderness is Disneyland corralled into safe tidy locations and stops them from harming the wilderness. It is a good thing.
Yes. I did know that. They put in that silly clause to see if they were actually reading the contract in its entirety.
Brilliant, plus they got a lot of M&Ms which is always a good thing.
for free – not for fee
Karen
News Flash – We are not, and haven’t been for some years, in a recession – much as that must annoy you.
Individual Admission to Burning Man – $390. Other tickets are $800. Some tickets are $190 for low-income folks.
Burning Man is an LLC run as a non-profit.
There is no danger of a failure of capitalism here.
The event is on your land. The BLM charges a fee for its use. If you would rather the LLC get the use of your land for fee, please contact the BLM to make your wishes known.
doctoryes – I am pretty sure an LLC (Limited Liability Corporation) cannot be run as a non-profit.
bambam:
“Lots of things get past me, but any mention of ice cream usually catches my attention.” Me too, and I see that you are right. There IS a photo of a delicious looking chocolate ice cream taco. Which I want to get. Immediately. Clearly the Feds must have seen an ad and they succumbed to the advertising! It’s the fault of mass marketing that we are in this embrolio!
DBQ – that is a hilarious story.
Karen – there is an ice cream taco like product on the market. My wife bought me one a couple of weeks ago. They are messy. The ice cream squirts out the end.
the power trip that some are on.
Story:
We used to own a 17 ft inboard out board motor boat that we had moored at a client’s home on a lake that connects to a popular river and some other spring fed lakes that people like to fish from. We would take the boat out on weekends and go to the middle of the water with a cooler full of ice, libations, picknick lunch, books sunscreen and basically just float around, eat, drink, nap and sunbathe.
Up comes a Fed. A junior Fed. We know his boss and that this guy is temporarily assigned to this area to fill in for some vacationing Feds.
Fed: What are you doing out here?
Us: Reading, napping and sunbathing..(duh)
Fed: Why are you out here
Us. We told you.
Fed: Let me see your fishing licenses.
Us: We aren’t fishing and don’t have licenses
Fed: I want to see your licenses.
Us: We don’t need a license to float on the water.
Fed: You can’t fish without a license. You are going to be in trouble.
Us: Look (ahole) we aren’t fishing. DO you see any fishing poles or anything else that makes you think we are fishing.
Fed: Let me see your ID’s
Us: What for. We are NOT fishing and not driving a car. It isn’t any of your business what we are doing
Fed. I’m coming onto your boat.
Us: Wanna bet.
Us. Cell phone out….I’m calling your boss at home …>Hi Dell .This is Dumbplumber and DBQ did you know that Junior Fed is harassing us for floating on the river. Here….you wanna talk to him? (hand over phone….. Phone handed back and Junior leaves and goes put putting away in his little Fed boat). Thanks Dell. See you at the BBQ this weekend.
The little prck Jr Fed was all puffed up with his importance and there are more like that. It happens all the time. Next…driving in the forest and getting stopped because we don’t have a wood permit. Even though we don’t have a chainsaw or any wood on the truck and no plans to cut wood. I guess he can read minds and THOUGHT that we might be thinking about wood. Well…..we were….but not that kind 😀
Its like you can’t see the forest for the fees.
My dad is predicting a huge fire in my old hometown since they stopped running sheep on the mountain.
I detect another ‘Bundy Ranch’ scenario in the offing …
bambam:
“If these workers must patrol the desert, assisting and aiding visitors in the brutal heat, I want them as comfortable and hydrated as possible. If an ice cream taco, a toilet and a washing machine accomplishes that, so be it.”
What’s an ice cream taco? If it involves chocolate, that sounds really good.
Karen S
Lol! The article specifically makes mention of Choco Taco ice cream, which I believe are taco-shaped cones that contain ice cream. There’s a small photo of the offensive product pictured in the article itself. Yes, I do declare, there appears to be some chocolate on the top!
Lots of things get past me, but any mention of ice cream usually catches my attention. 🙂
DBQ – who cleans up after the Burning Man festival, the event organizers or the BLM staff? Are they there to oversee? What does the BLM actually do at the festival, besides enjoy their favorite brand of ice cream?
bambam:
“If you wish to conduct research, on your own or with a few people in the desert, I can understand the necessity to rough-it and not have all of the luxuries normally available to most of us.” Actually, I was referencing my college days, not any “hobby” research. The other instances were paid jobs, including my own stint teaching riding lessons, and my ecologist relative. And none of those jobs entailed ice cream or laundry service. There were no flushable toilets in remote areas of the desert or the jungle. OK, there was one when I went on a 5 hour trip to the local village to eat at a “restaurant”, but I had to hold two wires together while standing in a puddle of water to get the bare lightbulb to turn on. I don’t really count that one. A professor, for example, could not demand laundry service and ice cream if he was on a research trip out in the bush somewhere.
My point is that a great many jobs do not take place in an office park and lack basic amenities.
“In this case, where 70,000 visitors are expected and 35 million is being pumped into the local economy, you are upset that these workers want toilets that flush and ice cream to cool their palates?” Many major events have port-a-potties. I hate them. I would personally prefer flushable toilets for hygiene. Ice cream, yoghurt, VIP accommodations, and laundry service are unreasonable at an event that is remote, by definition. And they are trying to withhold the event unless they get their ice cream and washer and dryer.
It is another symptom of the ruling elite class of government.
This is where the math comes in. From the article:
“The federal agencies have been steadily tacking on costs on the events and increasing the fees from $1 million in 2011 to an anticipated $5 million this year. The special compound for federal employees have been estimated to cost as much as $1 million.”
At some point, they will make it so expensive and difficult to put on that the organizers will declare it not worth the trouble. And there goes that $35 million economic boost during a recession. There is only so much business owners are willing to pay or go through before it’s no longer worth the time and effort. I do not know where that line lies with Burning Man, but believe me, there is a line that will eventually cause them to fold.
Increasing fees by 400% in 4 years is absurd for any business to absorb.
CA has failed to learn this math, and businesses leave the state every year.
The bottom line is that these entitled performers get away with these demands because
The bottom line is that the entitled performers are private individuals who are being paid through voluntary purchase of tickets and merchandise, while the Government employees who act entitled are being paid by the involuntary taxation of the public and often for jobs we would rather that they didn’t do anyway.
No one, least of all I, wish that government or any kind of employees be forced to work in harsh and even potentially dangerous conditions. I don’t begrudge them their hydration and toilet facilities as long as they are not the Taj Mahal of toilets 😀 and are reasonable requests of food, liquids, shower facilities etc. However to express the demand for brand name ice cream etc and generators to run the freezers [24-hour access to Chobani Greek Yogurt and a standalone freezer with Drumstick and Choco Taco ice cream] just seems a bit over the top.
They should get hazard pay for having to deal with the Rainbow Festival loons 🙂 It would be nice if there was some way to get the Federal Government out of controlling all the land and then they wouldn’t need to deal with this idiocy.
If you haven’t lived in an area where the majority of the land and wilderness is controlled by the Feds, you have no idea the power trip that some of them are on.
I underestimated the time necessary to produce the event. People are setting up weeks before the event. Clean up after Burning Man lasts for four weeks. It’s a LNT (Leave No Trace) event run by a bunch of ….wait for it…..a bunch of hippies. No doubt they need better planning tips from the good folks in Wisconsin who are running an event of several hours.
Scott Walker is also doing a splendid job of destroying the University of Wisconsin.