Jenny Kane

jkane@rgj.com

Although Burning Man is an increasingly fancy affair, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's cost of hosting it on federal land is going down.

In 2016, Burning Man paid the BLM a total of $4.4 million, which covered the BLM's costs, all of the contracts and the 3-percent revenue that the arts organization has to turn over to the BLM each year after the massive art party in the Black Rock Desert. The cost was about $150,000 more the year before.

The overall reduction in cost resulted partly from drops in staffing the event and the length of the BLM staff's assignment on-site, according to a Thursday statement from the BLM. The BLM's main role is oversight of law enforcement and ensuring that environmental and health standards are upheld.

Burning Man challenges BLM's $2.8M bill for 2015 event

Until recently, Burning Man's price tag for doing business with the BLM was rising year-over-year, according to Burning Man organizers.

In 2011, the organization paid $1.45 million to the agency. That cost jumped by almost $1 million the next year and $2 million the year after, Burning Man's records show.

While BLM officials said a 20,000-plus increase in attendance during that period required more law enforcement, Burning Man officials filed a lawsuit earlier this year arguing that the costs were excessive. In particular, the organization complained about the number of law enforcement officers and officers' behavior at the event.

Law enforcement resources had been abused by at least one unnamed BLM agent during the 2015 Burning Man event, according to a Department of Interior Inspector General's Office investigation released earlier this week. The unnamed agent used his government position to get sold-out tickets to Burning Man for his family, and also had on-duty officers escort them around the event in government utility vehicles, according to the report.

The unnamed agent is described as "the person behind many of the BLM requests" at Burning Man that were canceled in 2015, the report said. Those requests — which included a more than $1 million VIP compound complete with flushing toilets and 24-hour access to ice cream for BLM officials — were pushed by Utah's former Special Agent in Charge, Dan Love, who oversaw law enforcement at Burning Man for several years.

Report: BLM agent broke federal ethics rules at Burning Man

“(Special recreation permit) costs are not intended to cover junkets for federal employees, a chance to try out fancy technology, or other fringe benefits that would never be approved for regular agency operations,” Burning Man attorney Elizabeth Stallard wrote in the appeal. “Quite simply, just because the BLM is spending someone else’s money does not mean it can do so recklessly.”

BLM officials argued that the scope of the event justified all of the costs and resources, and no wrongdoing occurred on behalf of the BLM, according to the BLM's response to the appeal.

The Department of Interior's Board of Land Appeals still is reviewing the Burning Man vs. BLM lawsuit, although it is not expected to hinder collaboration on the 2017 event taking place from Aug. 27 to Sept. 4.