Playa Volunteers Needed. Kick back in the shade of our Center Circle camp for a 4 hour shift (or two). To volunteer please visit our schedule webpage here. We are also looking for people to ride our art car, dressed in period clothing. Thanks, and we'll see you on the playa!

2009 Burning Man Exhibit Proposal
BM Theme: Evolution
BLM Exhibit Title: This Is Land Is Your Land – The Evolution of Public Lands
Location: Evolution (Ring Road) at 1:45 next to Earth Guardians

Public Lands – a legacy unique in the world. A concept envisioned by our forefathers and passed down generation to generation and entrusted to all Americans to protect and conserve. The story of America’s public lands is essentially the history of the nation. It is a story of
victories and defeats, of hopes and disappointments, of justice and injustices, of men and women looking for better lives, of men and women fighting to keep the lives they know. It is a story written in blood, sweat, and tears, on landscapes of indescribable beauty and richness.

From the Louisiana Purchase to Lewis and Clark to the Indian campaigns to the westward migration of the pioneers to the gold rush to the formation of the major land managing agencies to the building of railroads and great dams to the training of our troops in the desert in WW II to nuclear testing in the Nevada Desert – the Public Lands played a crucial role.

The goal of this year’s exhibit will be to educate Burning Man participants about this valuable public lands legacy. The exhibit will be designed in a museum-type format with exhibit panels displayed in a chronological format telling the public lands story and tying the story to key historical events. Tactical displays (hands on) and historical artifacts (wagons, mammoth bone, wildlife statues, etc.) will accompany the panels to bring the exhibit to life. A traveling exhibit (Art Car), which can be taken out onto the playa, will further enhance our ability to reach Burning Man participants.
Key Exhibit Themes:
• Where it all started-The Louisiana Purchase
• Lewis and Clark and Other Explorations
• The Creation of the Public Domain
• The Mountain Men
• The Gold Rush
• The Pioneers
• The Great Land Rush – The Homesteaders
• The Indian Campaigns
• Range Wars
• The National Forests
• The National Parks and Monuments
• The Bureau of Land Management Lands
• The Watering of the West – The Great Dams
• The Military and WW II Desert Training
• Nuclear Testing
• The Challenges of Today-The population explosion, water, power, pollution, conflict, traditional lifeways, recreation, protection and preservation, etc.
• The Future?

Main Exhibit Components:
• 2 Yurts w/shade structure
• Vinyl Interpretive Panels
• Entrance Structure
• Rope Fence
• Gas Campfire/Chairs/Benches
• Outside 4x8 Interpretive Panels
• Decorative Lighting
• FOBR Interpretive Trailer

Exhibit Elements:
• Outside Interpretive Panels
• Campfire
• Covered Wagon
• Mining Implements
• Buffalo, Steer, Bear Statues
• Rocket
• Mammoth Bone
• Medicine Wagon Art Car
• Inside Interpretive Panels

Special Programs:
• Presentations on Emigrant Trail Experience
• Talk on public lands history
• Traveling Medicine Show Art Car

We'd like to thank Gary Schmidt of the Reindeer Lodge and Reno Movie Props for the use of his historic cut-under wagon and various antique artifacts for the interpretive art car. This substantial loan will make our project all the more effective and will draw participants' attention to the history of public lands.