Welcome Home

Fly Ranch is a 3,800 acre ranch in Northern Nevada. The land is home to Fly Geyser, hot springs, three reservoirs, wetlands, animals, and more than 100 types of plants. Sign up for a nature walk and read our survival guide if you want to visit.

Sign up for a walk

Design Challenge

We’ve partnered with the Land Art Generator Initiative on a design challenge to create projects focused on food, power, water, shelter, and waste.

LAGI 2020 at Fly Ranch

Results

500 people formed 185 teams and submitted proposals to LAGI. The proposals were reviewed by 200 technical advisors who left 2,000 comments. 50 members of the shortlist committee picked 52 shortlisted projects. The 33 jurors then voted for the top ten projects. Lodgers received the most votes, and is shown here. The projects aim to revere, steward, and heal the land. They also support Burning Man’s 2030 sustainability goals. 

Portfolio

Prototypes

We hope to start with a dozen or so prototypes. We also hope to build many more of the proposed projects. We assume this will play out through an emergent strategy. Each of the shortlisted projects is open for comments. Leave your thoughts or a note if you’d like to volunteer. Join our April 19th call to learn more. Shown here: Ripple. See more coverage.

Shortlisted Projects

LAGI Coverage

Forbes Article

LAGI, Fly Ranch, & sustainability

Interesting Engineering

Solar Mountain article

dezeen article

LAGI top ten

Vision

LAGI 2020 is an early step towards the Fly Ranch vision. The layout for Burning Man’s largest annual gathering did not come into being for a decade, once the city had reached 12,000 participants. Similarly, Fly Ranch has been and will be shaped and guided by the creative input and expertise of the community. Around 600 people participated in a 20 year process to realize the Fly Ranch dream in 2016. Thousands more have participated since then. The shared interest that drives us seems to be reconnection, healing, and life. It’s different, yet still Burning Man. We can give to the land, heal, and reconnect. Then we can go home and contribute to our communities and the world. Read a 2.2K word document about the process and vision.

Vision

Stewardship

Our 2030 goals are to be carbon negative, sustainably manage waste, and be regenerative. We might be able to address the climate emergency if every government, organization, and person met these goals. We’re open-source and welcome collaboration.

Sustainability

Campouts

Writer’s Emerging was a retreat to connect with the land and participate in creative workshops. One participant noted: “The Writers Emerging program epitomizes the highest and most multi-faceted potential of what your organization and its resources can do.”

Read About Writer's Emerging

Art

The Labyrinth at Fly Ranch is the first site-specific art project. It is meant to be a respite from the often chaotic or overwhelming life experience.

Fly Labyrinth

We Are Guests

Fly Ranch is on Numu (Northern Paiute) and Newe (Western Shoshone) land. At least four distinct Numu tribes have direct ties to the area. We are learning and will continue to learn about this. There is more we can do to support Indigenous peoples, address settler colonialism within our culture, and support direct action. For more background see our land acknowledgment.

Land Acknowledgement

Emergence

Projects have been proposed, organized, and managed by the community. See our approach.

Approach

Community

Our 30+ free & open campouts and 400+ nature walks have been published in our FB group.

Facebook Group

Nature

We post pictures on Instagram.

@fly_ranch

Field Notes

Periodic newsletter.

Newsletter

Virtual Tour

Get a sense of the land.

Virtual Tour

Image & event gallery

Read on to learn more. Send questions and ideas to gro.namgninrubnull@hcnarylf.

  • Section 1-1.7. The Land.
  • 2-2.2. Infrastructure Experiments
  • 3, 3.1. Sustainability Plans
  • 4, 4.1. Operations
  • 5-5.2 Local Programs
  • 6-6.6. Gatherings
  • 7. Participate.
  • 8-8.3. Media.
  • 9, 9.1. People & Photo Acknowledgements.

1. Greeters Station: Welcome to the Land

Fly Ranch Species List

🦊 🌿 🐟 🐦 🐛

Sounds of Fly Ranch

🦗 🐸 🐎 🐦

The Touch of Fly Ranch

🔍 from the field

1.1 The Land: Water

Water is Life

How we relate to 🌊

Cyanobacteria in springs

🔬 ‘Dark Matter’

Geothermal Considerations

🌡 at 195.4°F 💦

1.2 The Land: Non-native species

Relationship & Perspective

How we approach 👽 species

A brief history

How non-native species arrived

Non-native species plan

Maps, timelines, and approach

1.3 The Land: Nature Videos

Geyser Geothermal Image

🌋 ♨ 📹

Fly Ranch Aquatic Life

📹 of hot springs & 🐟 friends

Nature Walk with Scirpus

Those 🐾 are a mountain lion ☝️

1.4 The Land: Climate & Weather Data

Daily Light Data

Yearly ☀️ in two places

Weather Data

Yearly 🌧 in three places

Windrose graph

Yearly 💨 in two places

1.5 The Land: Interactive Maps

Fly Ranch Artifacts

What we’ve found ⛏️

Property Boundaries

Fly Ranch property map

Fly Ranch Species Map

Interactive species map

1.6 The Land: Species Highlights

Ranch perspectives

The 150 🐄 that live here

Wild Horses

Around 19 🐎 live here

Bobcat

Meet our nocturnal neighbors

1.7 The Land: Species Highlights

Mountain Lion

We only have one 📷

Pronghorn

Second fastest land animal 🌎

Golden Eagle

🦅

2. Infrastructure Experiments: Art

Baba Yaga's House

The Cauldron

The Pier

Matt Schultz & The Pier Group

The Narwhal

Pepe Ozan 🦄 ⛵

The Bone Arch

Michael Christian

The Bone Tree

Dana Albany 🦴

Penguins

Joe Childs 🐧

2.1 Infrastructure Experiments: Mobile Use

VOLTstack batteries

Our friends at Portable Electric

Biofiltration Systems

Our friends at Ecozoic Resources

Russian Banya Project

Our friends from Art of Steam

2.2 Infrastructure Experiments: Solar

Mobile Solar Trailers

Renewable infrastructure

Solar Trailers

Our friends at rent.solar

BWB Array

BWB ❤️ ☀️

3. Sustainability Plans: Fly Ranch Projects

Cottonwood project

A plan for 🌳

Fly Ranch Public Benefit

How we think about public benefit

Water at Burning Man

Burning Man & Fly Ranch 💧 use

3.1  Sustainability Plans: Burning Man 2030 Goals

Can we grow food?

Fly Ranch 🌱 proposal

Carbon Capture Projects

Burning Man 2030 sustainability goals

Scaled infrastructure

☀️ 💨  ♻️ 🌊

4. Operations: Overview

Decision Making

How we work

Zoning & permitted use

General Rural in High Desert Area

Fly Ranch Budget

Learn about our financials

4.1 Operations: Technology Perspectives

Operational overview

📈 about Fly Ranch

Technology Roadmap

Our tech 💭

Blockchain Applications

An experimental proposal

5. Local Programs

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe

Museum & Visitor Center walks

Friends of Black Rock

Our 🚶🏽‍♂️🚶🏽‍♀️ partners in Gerlach

Bruno's Locals Discussions

LAGI lunch series

5.1 Local Programs: Youth Programs

Boy Scout Troop 512

⚜️ field trip

WashU Urban Design

A LAGI field trip

Gerlach K-12 School

👦🏼 👧🏼 scientists and stewards

5.2 Local Programs: Black Rock City

Panels at BWB

Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

The Playa Provides

Black Rock City panel & 🚶🏽‍♂️🚶🏽‍♀️

Burning Man Snatch Walks

A surprise 🚌 to Fly

6. Gatherings: Restorations

Landfill Excavation

Landfill mining & reclamation

BWB Restoration Weekend

BWB clean-up weekend

BWB Bridge Building

Built with ♻️ materials

6.1 Gatherings: Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, & Mathematics

STEAM Weekend

Science, Tech, Engineering, Art, & Math

Energy Gathering

Environmental Defense Fund

Geophysics Spring Break

University of Nevada, Reno

6.2 Gatherings: Partnerships

Milk + Honey Solar Array

Our first ☀️ experiment

Ecosystem Restoration

Awful’s Gas & Snack, PLPT, & BWB

Friends of Black Rock

Fierce Fairytales & Folksy Science

6.3 Gatherings: Build Week

Banya Build

😅 on the land

Pier Build

Our first art 🏗️

Baba Yaga Build

🧙🏽‍♂️ 🐔 🏠 🔨

6.4 Gatherings: Teaching & Learning

Leadership Training

Burning Man volunteerism training

Profiles In Dust

🎥 training

Leave No Trace Training

Earth Guardians & Friends training

6.5 Gatherings: Skills & Training

Table & Bench Build

Recycled & reclaimed wood use

Wilderness First Aid

For nature walk guides

Banya Steam Master

Banya use tutorial

6.6 Gatherings: Summits

Burners Without Borders

Fall Summit EcoSprints

Burners Without Borders

Sustainability Spring Summit

Spring Expeditions

Prototype gatherings & research

7. Participate

Become a Geyser Guardian

Come steward the land 🤠

Submit a proposal

Build your own project

Become a Walk Guide

Help others explore Fly Ranch

8. Media: Historical Perspectives

Founding Donors

Fly Ranch purchase history

FiveThirtyEight

The Darkest Skies In America

Burning Man in 1997

ABC Nightline at Fly Ranch

8.1 Media: Recent Perspectives

KRNV NBC Reno

The Rural Incubator of Fly Ranch

KUNR: Fly Geysers Opens

For First Time In Two Decades

College of Science, UNR

Mineral Monday: Field Trip to Fly Ranch

8.2 Media: Fly Ranch Content

Community Meetup

Data Science for Sustainability

2020 Burning Man

)*( at Fly Ranch

Can We Live Off The Land?

Community Discussion at Manny’s

8.3 Media: Sustainability Discussions

Burning Man Live

Zac on LAGI & Fly Programs

LAGI Facebook Live

LAGI, Fly, & Burning Man

Carbon Capture Projects

Pyramid Lake High School class

9. People: Fly Ranch Team

Erika Wesnousky (Volunteer Coordinator), Joe Childs (Land Steward), Lisa Schile-Beers (Land Steward), Matt Sundquist (Director), Zac Cirivello (Operations Manager)

9.1 Photo Credits

Steve Tietze (header image). Introductory section: Zac Cirivello, Steve Tietze, Don Clark, Christopher Breedlove, Will Roger, Lisa Schile-Beers, Android Jones, Nicole Rodney, Tanner Boeger. Section 1. Lisa Schile-Beers (LSB), Steve Tietze, LSB 2.  LSB, LAGI, LSB 3. Tanner Boeger, LSB, LSB 3.1 LSB, Dr. Scott D. Hamilton-Brehm, LSB 3.2 Will Roger, LSB, LSB 3.3 Rina Schumer, Joe Childs, LSB 3.4 LSB, Lisa Nash, Matt Sundquist 3.5 LSB, LSB, Thomas Takano 3.6 LSB, LSB, Fly Ranch Critter Cam (LSB) 3.7 Critter Cam, LSB, LSB   4. Luc Asbury, @ckanani, John Curley, Christopher Breedlove, Joe Childs, Will Roger 4.1 Zac Cirivello, Joe Childs, Vadim Osipov 4.2 Joe Childs, rent.solar, Christopher Breedlove 5. LSB, LSB, LSB 5.1 LSB, LSB, Zac Cirivello 6. LSB, LSB, LSB 6.1 Gordon Ching, LSB, Zac Cirivello 7. LSB, Joe Childs, LAGI 7.1 Joe Childs, @washu.urbandesign, FBRHR 7.2 Burning Man Doc Team, @ZenSalad (Reddit), Zac Cirivello 8. Zac Cirivello, Zac Cirivello, Zac Cirivello 8.1 Judge Jessica Imus, EDF, LSB 8.2 Matt Forkin, Christopher Breedlove, Joe Childs 8.3 Vadim Osipov, Zac Cirivello, @babayagasbookclub 8.4 Nicole Rodney, Profiles in Dust, FBRHR 8.5 Zac Cirivello, FBRHR, @kristizen 8.6 Carmen Mauk, Carmen Mauk, Nicole Rodney 9. Zac Cirivello, LSB, LSB 10. LSB, Fly Ranch Critter Cam, LSB 11. Fly Ranch Critter Cam, @rylander_west & @paulheran, ABC Nightline 11.1 LSB, Fly Ranch Critter Cam, LSB 11.2 LSB, Burning Man Doc Team, LSB, 11.3 Burning Man Live, Christopher Breedlove, Project Drawdown (Neil Ever Osborne).