An estimated 10,000 more people are expected to grace Burning Man this year after officials increased the attendance cap. Associated Press reports: "The U.S. Bureau of Land Management issued a special recreation permit to San Francisco-based Black Rock City LLC, the nonprofit group behind Burning Man. The permit allows 60,900 people to attend the arts festival, up from 50,000 last year. Officials announced the increase Tuesday.

Is this a good thing? Sure. Why not. More people get to enjoy themselves in the sun and on acid while now even more people will leave the city for the festival. Everybody wins. Then again, getting in and out of the annual festival is quite a pain, or so we hear. Burning Man founder Larry Harvey talked to SF Bay Guardian's Steven T. Jones about the increased attendance and traffic, explaining:

On the transportation question, [Harvey] said, "it's a question of flow." Right now, participants arriving or leaving on peak days often wait in lines that can take four hours or more.

"We've talked to engineers that have proposed solutions to that," Harvey said of the transportation issue, although he wouldn't discuss possible solutions except to say, "You could exit in a more phased fashion."

Roegner said that was one of the big issues identified in the EA. "We are taking a closer look at a couple items this year, traffic being one," he said. Another one is the use of decomposed granite, which is placed under flaming artworks to prevent burn scars on the playa, and making sure it is properly cleaned up each year.

Burning Man came under fire earlier this year after the federal Bureau of Land Management putt Black Rock City LLC on probation, citing a violation of the 50,000-person attendance cap placed on the event last year.