"Our event and culture have been intimately tied to Gerlach and many of its residents for years, and Burning Man Project owns a substantial number of parcels in the area that are critical to our annual event cycle. The parcel known commonly as “the 360” was purchased from a local ranching family in 2016. With the help and contributions of many staff and Gerlach-area and Burning Man community members, we chose to spend this summer developing “the 360” and several other parcels to better position ourselves for our 2022 event operations and to create projects that are supporting the local area year-round with increased activities and jobs beyond Black Rock City. Early feedback indicates maker spaces, public gathering spaces, and storage are all welcome endeavors on our properties. There are no plans to relocate Black Rock City.

Burning Man Project has been meeting and working closely with Washoe County and the Gerlach General Improvement District (or “GGID”) to discuss long-term plans and visions for the site. The development of a site of this size normally occurs over several years, with each incremental step involving a permit. In this case, we are working with the County to ensure we get the appropriate permits in place for the activities being undertaken on the property. This includes the special use permit (“SUP”) we obtained to begin establishing the storage aspects of the land.

Partnership and mutual understanding with Gerlach residents and Washoe County has always been part of this process. We’ve held one-on-one feedback conversations, regularly attended and presented at the monthly GGID meetings and Gerlach/Empire Citizen Advisory Board meetings, and obtained approvals where appropriate. We facilitated an undergraduate class out of Gerlach on rural economic development, and we’ve been running open-invite weekly tours so people can learn about our properties. All of these efforts have been met with enthusiasm from the local residents. Gerlach is our home. Just as Black Rock City brings an annual boon to the Northern Nevada economy, our decisions as a property owner and good neighbor are being made with the economic prosperity of the local community in mind.

In doing so, we aspire to have our operations be revenue neutral or better, as financial stability is financial sustainability. We will always endeavor to implement ideas and programs that are in alignment with our greater mission, and we’ll share more information as we have it."