By Brian Duggan, Reno Gazette-Journal

After selling out of tickets for the first time in its 26-year history this year, Burning Man organizers have decided to start a lottery system instead of selling tickets on a first-come, first-serve basis.

The news was announced Friday in the organization’s newsletter, known as the Jack Rabbit Speaks. Black Rock City, home to the annual Burning Man event in the Black Rock Desert about two hours north of Reno, is regulated by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, which imposes a population cap of 50,000 people, on average, over the course of the eight-day event.

The peak population this year surpassed 54,000 people. Meanwhile, Burning Man organizers are still trying to get a new BLM permit approved that would allow the population cap to increase to 55,000 in 2012 and reach 70,000 by 2016.

Burning Man 2012 runs from Aug. 27 through Sept. 3.

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