Fly Ranch Vision & History
Burning Man Rural Center for Interactive Arts & Community Participation
Preface
This page has two goals. First, to share information with interested people, collaborators, and similar projects. Second, to thank and acknowledge those who made this happen. The linked documents, images, and videos summarize and document the project. We are open-source. Anyone can propose projects. What follows is a brief history. Part One introduces Burning Man and how it moved to Fly Ranch in 1997. Parts two and three discuss the Fly Ranch acquisition. Part Four is an overview of what has emerged. This is a working draft. Comments, questions, and feedback are welcome in this document.
Introduction
In 2016 Burning Man Project became the steward of Fly Ranch. Many have asked, “What’s going on at Fly Ranch?”, “What’s the vision for this space?”, and “Why does Burning Man have a ranch?” At 5.6 square miles, with thousands already involved, the answer isn’t simple. As we enter a new phase, it’s a good moment to reflect on the journey, share what’s ahead, and answer those questions. The idea of a year-round space for Burning Man grew from shared passion, belief in the community, and curiosity. More than 550 people made the 20-year acquisition possible, and thousands have since contributed. Chip Conley, an early leader in the project, summed it up: “What happens when Burners co-create a space beyond the playa?” The answer is unfolding now—through a growing array of projects and visions you can be part of and add to:
Regeneration
Restore land & ecosystem
🐝 Eight beehives
🐄 150 cows rotationally grazed
💧 Water protection
🌱 Rewilding
🖤 Compost spreading
🌱 Soil regeneration
🌞 Solar only since 2018
🦋 Biofiltration toilets
🌾 Farm & garden
🚐 Renewable systems
️🔥 Biochar burns to store C02
Community
Innovation & connection
🔎 Fly Guardians
⛺ BWB campouts
🌀 Labyrinth walks
🎨 Design competitions
🖼️ 12 pieces in Fly art park
🌿 Dozens of school field trips
🎉 Gerlach & staff soaks
🏝 Black Rock City staff Soaks
💧 Pyramid Lake partnerships
📚 Gerlach K-12
🎟️ New BRC citizens
Stewardship
Land, history, & future
🐌 Endangered Fly Ranch snail
💦 150 hot & cold springs
🌳 143 plant species & 136 birds
🐾 Mountain 🦁, bobcats, coyotes
🌋 Fly Geyser care & access
🎋 Tule reed center
🐸 600 acres of wetlands
📚 LAGI at Fly Ranch book
🏺 Burning Man Museum
🤝 Government relationships
🔬 Scientific conferences
I. Origins
In 1986, Larry Harvey and Jerry James went to Baker Beach in San Francisco and burned a wooden man. They decided to make it an annual event. John Law, the Cacophony Society, and hundreds of people got involved. In 1990 Burning Man merged with a zone trip some Cacophonists had planned to an alkaline salt flat in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada. From 1990 - 1996 the event was held over hundreds of square miles in a dry lake bed ("playa") in Pershing County on land managed by the Bureau of Land Management. Various philosophies, bohemian groups, and lineages merged into and influenced Burning Man.
Radical Experimenters &
Performers
Pushing boundaries through performance,
activism, and artistic exploration.
Dada, Diggers, Communiversity, Suicide Club, Merry Pranksters, Mary Grauberger’s Bonfires
Collective Chaos
Participatory and chaotic events, radical
self-expression and shared experience.
Mechanized Mayhem
& Creative Destruction
Fusion of art, robotics, and performance
with an anarchic, experimental spirit.
Cultural Disruptors
& Jammers
Disrupt culture and media through satire,
pranks, and thought-provoking interventions.
Interactive Visionaries
Immersive, participatory art experiences
that engage audiences on multiple levels.
Fly Ranch Burn
In 1997 Burning Man sought a new location in response to permit issues. Four miles down the road from the playa was a ranch with hot springs and a multi-colored geyser. Burning Man happened at Fly Ranch that year. In preparation for the event Will Roger, Coyote, and others built six roads that are still visible. They put up street signs and installed porta potties to meet Washoe County permit requirements. 10,000 people came to the event. People talked about if Fly Ranch could be a year-round space. Then, as now, there was art, fire, and soaking in the hot springs. ABC Nightline did a piece about the event.
Fire Dancing
Fly Hot Springs
The 1997 Man at Fly Ranch
Bone Arch at Fly Ranch
II. The Road Home
An iterative vision. After the event that year, William Binzen wrote a preliminary proposal for how to develop Fly Ranch. He explored different visions about what Fly Ranch could be. In 2005 Ken Vanosky wrote a proposal about the land, worked to determine an offer price, and looked at deal structures for a geothermal facility. In 2009, Marian Goodell conceived of an idea for 100 people to go to Fly on a bus for a dinner and conversation about a “year-round Burning Man facility.” The event was beautifully described and documented by John Curley.
The Org. Black Rock City LLC was founded in 2000 by Larry Harvey, Marian Goodell, Harley K. Dubois, Michael Mikel, Crimson Rose, and Will Roger. It became the permit holder and entity responsible for BRC administration. In 2008, the Founders concluded that a non-profit was the best option to ensure and protect the future of Burning Man. The entity took 18 months to develop. It was submitted in 2011 with by-laws and board members. Employees, IP, and associated projects migrated into the Nonprofit. The Founders donated their shares. Around the same time, Rod Garrett, Larry, and Will proposed a financially sustainable and environmentally regenerative facility at Fly Ranch. In 2011, Will chaired a committee to draft proposals. They expanded on maps Rod and Don Clark made with zones for energy, research, art, camping, and conservation. They imagined the project would support economic growth in Northern Nevada (which it does) and create public benefit (which it has). Don, Will, and others made a map that was influential in the LAGI at Fly Ranch Site Map.
Food & Soil. Tom Stille ran soil tests and developed a map during the acquisition process to show the amount of food Fly could produce. Fly's neighbors grow more than a thousand acres of alfalfa. A few hundred acres at Fly were once an alfalfa farm but are covered with cheatgrass, a fast-spreading non-native species. That area is adjacent to eight beehives, and would be ideal for farming. Four of the top ten LAGI projects focus on food (The Source, The Loop, Veil, and Ripple). In partnership with Burning Man's Regeneration Team, Fly has for the past two years spread compost from the Black Rock City Commissary, improved soil, and donated compost to projects in Gerlach and Pyramid Lake. Fly Farms has for the past two years produced tomatoes, onions, garlic, and peppers. Tom's work was a guiding influence for the LAGI Design Guidelines.
Funds. As Burning Man Project did not receive 501(c)3 status until 2012, the plan was to raise funds through the Black Rock Arts Foundation. Staff members Doron Amiran and James Hanusa started to fundraise. Jennifer Raiser later supported those efforts. Ben Thompson was the project manager. Matthew Kwatinetz, later a Burning Man Project board member, supported efforts and proposed deal structures. Fourteen people made small donations and larger pledges were promised. It’s difficult to manage an intense event, a nonprofit, and a real estate strategy. The acquisition project required a team.
III. Closing the Deal
The team. Chip Conley went to the 2009 Fly Ranch Dinner. He was enamored with Will's vision and love of the property. He saw Fly as the yin to BRC's yang. He became a Burning Man board member and re-ignited the effort with a first large gift. This enabled the organization to form a team:
🐻 Bear Kittay was invited to join the project. He was Burning Man’s Global Ambassador and started to build a coalition.
🤠 Daniel Claussen had experience in conservation, eco-hospitality, and impact investment. He led the close.
❤️ Katiyana Kittay had experience in event production and philanthropy. She was the lead for tours and events.
📐 James Milner was a management consultant who supported strategy and documentation.
A vision for participation. The team proposed a vision, calendar, and plans. They wrote:
The Fly Ranch Project is a one-of-a-kind legacy opportunity for the culture and community of Burning Man to significantly and meaningfully evolve. Fly Ranch, in combination with the adjacent Hualapai Flat, is the only significant piece of land near Black Rock City that has the resources to support and expand Burning Man’s cultural activities into a year-round force.
We are at a pivotal moment in time, one where Burning Man’s creative impact is escalating as a cultural phenomena. With Black Rock City at capacity for multiple years in a row, and with maturing communities and models of Burning Man replicating around the globe we are at a historic juncture in the evolving DNA of “what is Burning Man”?
Fly Ranch will be the centennial home for Burning Man’s legacy, an engine of possibility for our culture and our culture’s ability to make a powerful contribution to humankind in the 21st century and beyond.
Black Rock City’s iconic layout did not come into being until the size of the city reached 12,000 participants. Similarly, we intend for the form of Fly to be shaped and guided by the creative input and expertise of the community over the course of early events and gatherings on site.
Scheduling lessons learned. As was proposed, the current approach is of a constant array of volunteers, groups, builds, and assemblies, as well as series of events annually, bringing together Friends & Family. Eventually, this could be thousands or tens of thousands of attendees. Climate change has reshaped the practicality of our schedule. Considering the potential fire hazards, smoke, and heatwaves during summers, the best months for principal events seem to be April, May, October, and November. We can host flexible, monthly large-scale events that are easily adaptable and can minimize the likelihood of cancellation of large meet-ups with no backup. These plans can be expanded as per requirement.
Project management. Larry, Chip, Kay Morrison, David Walker, Terry Gross, and Matt Goldberg became the Fly Ranch Committee of the Board of Directors. The group was facilitated by Marian. The team signed an agreement to manage visits to the property. Rebecca Gasca, Ting Kelly, and Zach Bell supported visits and solicited feedback. Carson Bowley crafted proposals. Internally from Burning Man Project staff, Megan Miller, Playground, Zac Cirivello, and Theresa Duncan coordinated on communications, operations, and philanthropy. In 2015, a joint venture to purchase Fly Ranch and nearby land nearly came together but fell through. Late that year, the team wrote a proposal and gathered a group of potential donors to raise the final $2.2M needed. Ping Fu, who become a Burning Man Board member, became a Fly Ranch donor. Other donors joined: Joe Gebbia, Bill Linton, Rob and Kristin Goldman, Guy Laliberté, Farhad Mohit, Nushin Sabet, Alex Moradi, Graham Schneider, Jonathan Teo, and a few anonymous donors. A vision created at an offsite was that of a “triple crown” with three areas associated with different visions.
Black Rock City
The cultural home
Black Rock City remains the radical and ephemeral city of the imagination.
Fly Ranch
Experiments & innovation
Fly Ranch hosts experiments around nature, creativity, and relationships.
A Makerspace
Infrastructure & Builds
Makerspaces at Black Rock Station and The 360 support projects which live at BRC, in Gerlach, and at Fly Ranch.
Success. With the funds needed Burning Man Nonprofit purchased the property on June 10, 2016. Ben Henretig, Justin Majeczky, Sashwa Burrous, and Justin Lewis teamed up to make a video to introduce the land.
IV. The Present
Fly Ranch supports Burning Man Project, Black Rock City (BRC), locals, and a global community as a hub for sustainable living practices and solutions for food, water, power, shelter, and waste. Fly Ranch hosts Burners Without Borders campouts that bring together community members. It has been birthplace of ideas like the Renewable Art Team and Green Theme Camp Community. It offers a gateway experience for new BRC participants by distributing access. It functions as a pilot site for renewable solutions like Ecozoics, solar trailers, and electric vehicles deployed by the Regeneration Department. Fly supports compost redistribution for local gardens, provides a space for large-scale BRC art installations, and enables teams to recharge through BRC staff soaks. Burning Man's 2030 Sustainability Roadmap, informed by Fly Ranch's stewardship of the land, provided the context for eight figure philanthropic fundraising for Burning Man Project, OFF funding, and Save the Man, Green the Man, and Bring the Man Home. Fly Ranch strengthens relationships with local and regional stakeholders, government and non-profit organizations, and other BRC stakeholders in the surrounding area. Since 2016 we have had costs of $2.7 million for programs, administration, infrastructure, and restorations. This is an average budget of $337,000 a year. We've generated $2.3M in revenue, a net cost of a few hundred thousand dollars. We've avoided costs of over a million dollars for water for Black Rock City. Fly has three full time employees, one hourly steward, a part time producer, and an ecologist. The real work is done by Fly Ranch Stewards, our membership. Stewards come from around the world, hail from many fields, and contribute in diverse ways to support projects at Fly Ranch:
Project Teams
Site based projects
⛩️ Guardians Tend the land
🚶🏽♀️ Walk Guides led 1K+ walks
😮 185 LAGI Teams & 33 Jurors
🔧 200 LAGI Technical Advisors
🎨 26 Fly Art Teams
💪 Fly BWB Chapter: ❤️ & 🙌 of Fly
🐝 Fly Ranch bee team
🧖 Art of Steam banya masters
🇫🇮 Finnish Sauna Society
☀️ Milk + Honey: Fly’s first solar
📦 Container camp
Events
103 Campouts
🪐 Dozens of art & build campouts
⛺ 17 BWB campouts
🚜 15 Work Weekends
♻️ 12 Stewardship Days
🧑🤝🧑 4 Friends & Family Campouts
🏗️ 3 LAGI Campouts
✨ 2 Volunteerism Summits
♻️ 2 Leave No Trace trainings
📡 STEAM Gathering
🦋 Bioblitz found five new species
📖 BIPOC Women Writer's Retreat
Partners
Geopolitical stakeholders
🌄 Friends of the Black Rock
📚 Gerlach K12, GGID, & CAB
🚌 Pyramid Lake HS & Museum
⛰️ Eight American Indian Tribes
🎓 University of Nevada Reno
💚 Center for Biological Diversity
🚰 Great Basin Water Network
🏜️ Desert Research Institute
🦎 NV Division of Natural Heritage
🌵 Bureau of Land Management
💼 US Department of the Interior
LAGI AT Fly Ranch
The past few years have been focused on LAGI at Fly Ranch. 500 people on 185 teams submitted proposals based on the design guidelines. The proposals were reviewed by 200 technical advisors who left 2,000 comments. 50 members of the shortlist committee picked 52 shortlisted projects. 33 jurors selected the top ten projects. Lodgers received the most votes. The project crystallized a focus on the foundational infrastructure for food, power, water, shelter, and waste. The project compliments and can be a platform for Burning Man to realize our sustainability goals. The top ten teams have completed prototypes of their projects at Fly and around the world.
Water Is Sacred
Water is the most valuable and ecologically important aspect of Fly. Burning Man Project (BMP) stewards four vested underground water rights claims from artesian wells designated for stock watering and three surface claims designated for irrigation from Cottonwood Creek, Little Cottwonwood, and the hot springs. There is substantial water on the property, at least tens of millions of gallons. There is also groundwater water and aquifer water. To make use of the water, owners need to go through a permit process. Seasonal precipitation is down, temperatures are higher and increase evaporation, and aridification is underway. Surface and groundwater reductions are visible, along with other impacts from climate change. A Reno developer recently sought to build a pipeline with water from under Fly Ranch in in the Hualapai Flat Basin (Basin 024). Various Friends of Fly opposed a similar project in 2007 and could be part of a coalition. The endangered Fly Ranch pyrg snail could be protected from a pipeline through the Endangered Species Act. Fly Ranch has well-documented public benefits that would be impacted by water mining. It is unclear if the State Water Engineer would approve an interbasin transfer.
Fly Ranch Hot Springs
Fly Ranch Upper Reservoir
Reconnection, healing, & life
The fuel that drives Black Rock City seems to be personal freedom, creation, and destruction. Most of the rest is ideological. The fuel that drives Fly Ranch seems to be reconnection, healing, and life. It’s different, yet still Burning Man. We have an opportunity to relate to land differently than anywhere elsewhere. We can give to the land, heal ourselves, and reconnect. Then we can go home and connect with and contribute to our communities and the world. This film captures the essence of the project.
We are Visitors
Fly Ranch and the surrounding region has a 15,000+ year history of stewardship. In the U.S. there are 574 federally recognized Indian Nations that once lived freely throughout the country. Northern Nevada Tribes include the Numu (Northern Paiute), Nuwu (Southern Paiute), and Newe (Western Shoshone). They were all negatively impacted by colonialism. The Numu recognize a transcendental power in nature called puha that could be found in plants, stones, water and elsewhere. As Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council Member Maurice Eban explained: “Since time immemorial, we Indian People have had a respect for the land that we walk upon. At no time has that caretaking responsibility changed. Indian People are still the rightful caretaker of this land.” Burns Paiute Indian Tribal Chairwoman Charlotte Rodrique put it directly: “We were here first.” This surfaces questions for us that feel important to continually consider. Our actions won’t fix long-term geopolitical conflicts that are generations old. What we can do is consider our actions in relation to land use, people, and ecology. We can work to be good future ancestors. Fly Ranch Stewards includes enrolled members of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe, Te-Maok Tribe of Western Shoshone, Yerington Paiute Tribe, Big Pine Paiute Tribe, Haliwa Saponi, Tule River Yokuts and Nüümü (Paiute) Nations, Citizen Potawatomi Nation, and the Navajo Nation. To learn more visit the Pyramid Lake Tribe Paiute Museum, read a book.
Thanks Larry
"It is our aim to treat these places as a platform from which to project our culture outward. We believe this platform can be made to function as a chambered heart, continually pumping new vitality into the body of a worldwide community…Anyone at any time can be a founder, and we invite you to join us."
Larry Harvey, “Giving to Fly Ranch: An Open Letter to Our Community", 2017.