• Clean As You Go and Grid Your Camp at the End! Don't wait until the end of the week to pick stuff up, CLEAN AS YOU GO. This will help you from getting overwhelmed by the mess and help keep trash from blowing out of reach. Then, when you pack up and load everything (including trash) into your vehicle, do a line sweep across your camp. Give everyone a ziplock bag, line them up along one edge of camp, look down and slowly walk to the other side. Cover your entire area looking for those last bits of trash- every twist tie, cigarette butt, food scrap, carpet fiber, match, nut shell, scrap of plastic, everything.
   

• A Buried Stake Doesn't Disappear. Instead, its hazard is magnified. Even when pounded below the surface, a stake will slowly, inevitably, emerge from the playa. Then it might be found during the BLM's Spring inspection, producing a black mark against permit renewal; or it might not be found until it tears a tire or gashes a foot- maybe during next year's event, maybe to a windsurfer or another group that, like us, uses the playa.
   

• Vise-grips will almost always remove a stuck stake. First, clamp on the vise-grips and rotate the stake back and forth, to break the playa's grip. Then continue rotating and also pull upwards. Still stuck? Ask a neighbor for help. As a last resort, make the stake highly visible by fastening something to it. Someone else with heftier tools will be able to get it out. Water will sometimes help.
   

• Devote Two Hours to General Cleanup in Black Rock City. On your ticket, you're asked to contribute two hours to community cleanup before departure. This means the streets, public spaces, and open playa where stuff may have been left behind. Stop by the Earth Guardian camp on Sunday and Monday and we'll direct you to the areas of the city that need the most attention.
   

• Consider joining the DPW post-event clean-up crews. Help us get it out of here, so that we can all return again. The Bureau of Land Management, the agency that writes our Special Recreation Use permit, must agree that we've left no trace. They inspect random samples of the city, in the Fall and in the Spring, and if we haven't left 99.99997% empty playa, our future is in trouble. So far we've done even better, and we keep improving.
   

• WATER

Do NOT wait until Gerlach to fill water bottles. There is no commercial water vendor, and the town's citizens frown severely upon those that steal their precious resource - in the desert, water is gold. DO check out water sources in Reno - for more great water info, visit

http://www.burningman.com/preparation/event_survival/water.html

• BIKES
  This article came out in the Black Top Gazette and went to all Regionals. The change from last year to this is that we will no longer
  inventor bikes and try to match them with their owners post event. After three years of hard work, time and money (your ticket money) I
  have found less than 5 matches and do not feel like it is a prudent way to go. Anything that theme camps can do to help our community will be
  greatly appreciated! There are some great ideas in this article. Read on:
  
  Bikes are clearly the BEST way to get around Black Rock City (okay, maybe after art cars, but not all of us are so lucky). You can imagine
  then, that it would be the WORST if that bike went buy-bye. As in got“ lost.” Or stolen. (Gasp! Not at Burning Man!) Or maybe someone just
  borrowed it—temporarily. Uh-huh. (Can you tell someone had a bad bike experience in Black Rock City?) The unfortunate truth is that bikes are stolen at Burning Man every year. And the ones left behind litter our lovely Black Rock City with corrosion, not to mention disrespect. 

For the past few years, Burning Man as an organization has tried to reunite lost bikes with their owners, but efforts have proven fruitless and require too much time and energy to continue. So, in an effort to keep everything at Burning Man the best, bikes included, we put several BRC bike experts in one room to come up with the essential “Bike Tips for Burners.” Take them to heart and you’ll be pedaling along the playa all week long:

Bike Tips for Burners
· Do NOT buy just any old bike on the way to BRC unless you know something about bikes.
· Bring your own patch/repair kit, including chain oil, and a sparechain.
· Inspect your tires carefully long before you’re playa-bound. (If they’re not road-worthy, they’re sure as hell not playa-worthy!) Bring an extra tire or two and be sure    to pack extra tubes!
· Appoint one person in your posse to be “the” bike mechanic for minor repairs like flats.
· Get a lock!  More importantly, use it! Even when you’re camped in your little corner of the desert, lock it up.  Seriously.
· Outfit your bike with a light for midnight adventures.
· In a theme camp? Provide a bike rack for visitors. There are many simple and cheap designs and your visitors will love you for it. · Consider making communal bikes for your camp that you can all share. You reduce the amount of bikes you bring and your chances of having some go missing.· As a camp, decorate your bikes with big flags and markers that make them easily identifiable.
· Talk to anyone that seems to be acting suspiciously around a bike. · Bring your bike back home!  Bikes are not an exception to our “leave no trace” mantra. DPW and the project cannot use them; plus, it’s just plain sad to see bikes literally go to waste (playa dust isn’t easy on‘em).
· If you fear your bike was stolen, check with Playa Information in Center Camp on Monday before you leave the playa.  That will be your last chance for recovery.

For more information on bikes at Burning Man, visit: 
http://www.burningman.com/preparation/event_survival/bikes.html

GATECRASHER'S LAMENT: GATE POLICY

Did you know that the Gate staff caught over 300 attempted sneak-ins at the Gate, and over 150 people trying to hop or crash the fence last year? (Yeah. Uncool.) We need to put a few more deterrents in place to reduce these numbers, so consider this a forewarning for 2004!

The Gate is responsible for ensuring that all participants entering Black Rock City are supporting the community. Due to what history has shown, the staff must search all vehicles entering the Burning Man event. This is nothing new, and as always, we apologize in advance for any inconvenience it may cause to perfectly honest citizens such as yourselves.

In 2004, if stowaway is found in your vehicle, the entire vehicle will have to wait at the gate until everyone - including the stowaway -- has a ticket. If they don't come up with one, your entire vehicle gets a vacation at the gate instead of getting out on the playa.

Vehicles approaching the perimeter fence will be escorted to the Gate. Those found attempting to avoid authorized entry to the event are subject to a monetary fine, in addition to paying for a full price ticket. Vehicles attempting to breech the perimeter may be cited for
trespassing by law enforcement agencies.

Please don't become a statistic!

Spread the word on behalf of the Gate Staff!
 

DOGS
Are you all on the Jack Rabbit Speaks, our internet newsletter? If so you are already aware that there will be no dogs permitted at Burning Man this year. Read on if you have not already seen this post:

Dogs. Love'em and Leave'em at home.

Due to the numerous issues surrounding dogs at Burning Man, the organization has decided that it is not fair to dogs nor other
participants to allow dogs at the event. Burning Man staff will also be asked to follow this policy.

The weather conditions and "alien" environment that makes Burning Man the unique event that it is, is not viewed the same by a one to three foot tall, four legged, non English speaking, fur coat wearing canine. The alkaline soil is corrosive to noses, paws and bellies. Dehydration and heatstroke happen very quickly and there is no animal medical service at the event. Pets are also prone to responding adversely to loud noises, huge sound systems, explosions, fireworks and crazy costumed people. Dogs are at knee level to everyone and may not enjoy the screaming, fire juggling, scary ass clown on a unicycle as much as you do. Many animals have been lost each year and problem dogs have caused serious disputes between camps. Complaints from participants regarding dogs at the event include excessive barking, using other people's property as a toilet or chew toy, digging, wandering around unattended and being aggressive to other dogs or humans.

Incidents have increased over the past three years. From a six month old puppy staying at an Esplanade camp with a deafening sound system and trays of chocolate at nose level, to a pregnant dog lost for two days, to a participant that wanted someone (us) to watch his three dogs while he "figured out where he was going to camp", the need to re-state that Burning Man is a self sufficient event is very evident. Dogs cannot be self-sufficient in the desert. The argument "Well, neither are children" can be explained by the simple fact that most participants do not treat their dogs as if they were their children - people don't usually show up and leave their children to fend for

themselves in the heat while tied to a bumper, for example. Also, animals do not have the same means of communication as humans and cannot say, "I hate it here but I'll follow you around because you are all I know," or "The dust is burning my nose and eyes," or "The guy in the camp next door kicked me when you weren't looking," or "Some weird lady just fed me whiskey."

This decision to ban dogs was made with the utmost concern for the health and well being of both dogs and participants. This is not meant to be restrictive to participants but to allow them the freedom to experience Burning Man without the worries and stress that full time care for a dog in the desert calls for.

Do not show up at the gate with your animal at Burning Man and expect to be admitted to the event. Reno is a long way to drive back and try and find kennel space during the generally pre-booked week before and weekend of the Labor Day holiday. The best thing to do is to plan ahead and find a petsitter, family member or friend, veterinarian's kennel or boarding facility in your home area that you have visited and feel comfortable with. If your pet will be staying somewhere new and unfamiliar, take time to introduce them (accompany them several times for short visits) to the person or place that will be caring for them while you are at Burning Man and that may reduce the anxiety they may have of being away from you. Remember to leave your veterinarian's information with the caretaker and clearly explain any medication or special treatment your pet needs while you are away.

As fellow participants and animal lovers we thank you for understanding and implementing this new policy. Also, we do recognize that new policies take time to implement and ask for your patience during this process.