<P> Mutant Vehicles , often motorized , are purpose - built or creatively altered cars and trucks . Participants who wish to bring motorized mutant vehicles must submit their designs in advance to the event 's own DMV or `` Department of Mutant Vehicles '' for approval and for physical inspection at the time of the event . Not all designs and proposals are accepted . The event organizers , and in turn the DMV , have set the bar high for what it deems an acceptable MV each year , in effect capping the number of Mutant Vehicles . This is in response to constraints imposed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management , which grants permits to hold the event on federal property , and to participants who want to maintain a pedestrian - friendly environment . Vehicles that are minimally altered , and / or whose primary function is to transport participants , are discouraged and rejected . One of the criteria the DMV employs to determine whether an application for a proposed Mutant Vehicle is approved is `` can you recognize the base vehicle '' . For example , if a 1967 VW van covered with glitter , dolls ' heads , and old cooking utensils can still be recognized as a VW van , it is considered to be `` decorated not mutated '' and is less likely to be approved . This criterion led to the exclusion of some `` Art Cars '' , which historically have been a staple of the event . There were over six hundred approved Mutant Vehicles at the event in 2010 . </P>
<P> Mutant Vehicles , often motorized , are purpose - built or creatively altered cars and trucks . Participants who wish to bring motorized mutant vehicles must submit their designs in advance to the event 's own DMV or `` Department of Mutant Vehicles '' for approval and for physical inspection at the time of the event . Not all designs and proposals are accepted . The event organizers , and in turn the DMV , have set the bar high for what it deems an acceptable MV each year , in effect capping the number of Mutant Vehicles . This is in response to constraints imposed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management , which grants permits to hold the event on federal property , and to participants who want to maintain a pedestrian - friendly environment . Vehicles that are minimally altered , and / or whose primary function is to transport participants , are discouraged and rejected . One of the criteria the DMV employs to determine whether an application for a proposed Mutant Vehicle is approved is `` can you recognize the base vehicle '' . For example , if a 1967 VW van covered with glitter , dolls ' heads , and old cooking utensils can still be recognized as a VW van , it is considered to be `` decorated not mutated '' and is less likely to be approved . This criterion led to the exclusion of some `` Art Cars '' , which historically have been a staple of the event . There were over six hundred approved Mutant Vehicles at the event in 2010 . </P>
who owns the land where burning man is held
who owns the land where burning man is held
federal property
federal property