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.
who owns the land where burning man is held
federal property