Steve Jones seems to think there will be, at 1830 hours today. He’s the author of book The Tribes of Burning Man, and definitely an insider in the Burner community.

His latest post reveals some very interesting information, including that the size of the BLM permit will not even be set until June.

“…determining the population cap is at the sole discretion of the Bureau of Land Management, which manages the Black Rock Desert.

More precisely, it is at the sole discretion of Rolando Mendez, the BLM field manager for the region, who I interviewed last week, along with assistant field manager Cory Roegner. And one of the things I learned that I found most interesting is that the population cap won’t even be set until this June, after all the tickets have been distributed.

“Black Rock City LLC is free to sell as many tickets as they’re inclined to,” Mendez said. “That’s a calculated business decision on their part, but I would expect Black Rock City LLC to live by the population cap that I set.”

Right now, both the LLC and BLM are awaiting completion of an Environmental Assessment (EA) report on the LLC’s request for a five-year permit that seeks apopulation cap that would gradually increase from 58,000 to 70,000. A draft report is expected next month, after which there will be a public comment period, with the final report expected in June.

“I have not determined how to allocate that population cap over time,” Mendez said, expressing concerns over limited highway access to the site and other factors. “Too sudden of a change at too great a level could overwhelm the system.”

Both Mendez and Goodell say the two entities have a good working relationship. “We work together at problem solving and brainstorming,” Mendez said. “But right now, I’m depending on the EA.””

I find it incredible, that 25+ years into the event, and with barely 6 months to go until the Burn, that BMorg have not even completed the Environmental Assessment report yet.

Thanks very much Steven Jones for breaking this aspect of the story, this is key. There could well be 17,000+ more tickets after June, if things go well with the EA report.

<original story at sfbg.com>