Burning Man organizers are pleading with festival-goers to write to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and urge them to reconsider a number of new requirements for the festival.

In March, BLM released a 372-page draft version of the annual Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that required the festival to take a number of new measures to remain in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

These requirements include reducing the amount of light pollution at night, providing more dumpsters inside of the city and along Gate Road for the festival's 80,000 participants, and paying for the maintenance of County Road 34, which takes participants to the entrance.

"Some of BLM's proposals are in direct conflict with our community's core principles and would forever negatively change the fabric of the Burning Man event, if not outright kill it," festival organizers wrote in March.

On Thursday, Burning Man staff asked Burners and other people interested in the annual festival at Black Rock City to write to the Bureau of Land Management, since organizers believe the new requirements would "spell the end of the event as we know it."

"The Draft EIS does not adequately factor in the astronomical cost increases and beyond-excessive government oversight associated with BLM's requirements," organizers wrote. "It does not adequately factor in our operational track record or expertise and proposes instead to increase federal government agency operations exponentially in order to take over or 'monitor' our operations."

Burning Man organizers attempted to refute many of the BLM requirements, and urged Burners to send emails to BLM echoing their refutations.

On requiring the presence of dumpsters, organizers wrote, "Leaving No Trace has been one of our core principles for over 30 years, and is the bedrock of our ethos of Radical Self-reliance: we pack everything in and pack everything out. Our community's resounding success in this area is largely due to the fact that there are no trash cans (or dumpsters) on playa, so participants must rely on themselves to Leave No Trace."

They continue, "Our history has proven that if you emphasize the LNT ethic and don't offer on-site waste removal support resources, people won't come to expect the organizing entity to handle their other needs as well. This is part of what pulls community together."

Last year, Reno residents complained that Burning Man attendees dumped all of their garbage in Reno immediately after the festival.

"Take a drive around Reno in the days following Burning Man, and you will easily see illegally dumped trash just about everywhere," Reno resident Garrett York told SFGATE in August. "It'll be covered in playa dust."

Burning Man organizers also took aim at BLM requiring private security to screen vehicles, participants, vendors, contractors, staff and volunteers entering the event for drugs and illegal weapons.

"This BLM requirement constitutes search and seizure without just cause — the 'probable cause' in this case is solely and exclusively the fact that a participant is going to Burning Man, and we believe this would constitute a violation of the 4th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution," they wrote.

Last year, 44 people were arrested at Burning Man, the vast majority of whom were arrested for drug offenses.

Festival organizers estimated the additions to the Burning Man event would cost nearly $10 million a year and that the cost of tickets could be raised as a result. "BLM would benefit financially from these increased expenses," the group wrote, pointing out that BLM takes a percentage of Burning Man's gross revenue already — which the Reno Gazette-Journal noted was a 3-percent use fee.

Further, the Burning Man organizers already compensate for labor and operations performed by BLM staff, a cost recovery fee that the Gazette-Journal reported reached $2.5 million in 2017.

You can read the full post from Burning Man organizers here.

SFGATE writer Dianne de Guzman contributed to this report.