Las Vegas Sun

April 25, 2024

Report on BLM agent at Burning Man finds ethics violations

Burning Man

Andy Barron / Reno Gazette-Journal via AP

A “burner” rides next to a sculpture during a dust storm Sept. 4, 2015, at Burning Man in the Black Rock Desert near Gerlach.

SALT LAKE CITY — Government investigators say they've found evidence a Salt Lake City-based Bureau of Land Management agent used his position to get sold-out Burning Man tickets and had agents drive his family around during the event in the Nevada desert.

A BLM spokesman said Tuesday the misconduct report on an unidentified supervisory agent is under review. The Department of Interior's Office of Inspector General paper will be forwarded to supervisors for possible discipline.

Investigators found the supervisory agent broke federal ethics rules when he bought three tickets and special passes to Burning Man in 2015 after it was sold out, though he paid his own money, and let his girlfriend stay in agency housing.

The investigators also found evidence he manipulated a hiring process so a friend could get a BLM job.

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