Burning Man Ok With Attendance Cap; Will Fight Searches

RENO, Nev. (AP) - Burning Man organizers say they won't challenge the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's plans to cap their attendance at current levels under a new 10-year permit.

But they say they will fight any move toward federally-sanctioned screenings for weapons and drugs at the counterculture celebration.

BLM proposed in a final environmental impact statement June 14 that a private security firm eventually be hired to screen all vehicles, participants, vendors, contractors, staff and volunteers upon entry to the event in the northern Nevada desert.

Burning Man organizers say that would subject "a peaceable gathering of people to searches without probable cause other than a desire to attend Burning Man."

The Reno Gazette-Journal reports any change in security isn't expected until at least next year.