Slashdot Mirror
Idaho Wants To Establish America's First 'Dark Sky Preserve' (idahostatesman.com)
schwit1 shares a story from the AP:
Tourists heading to central Idaho will be in the dark if local officials get their way. The first International Dark Sky Reserve in the United States would fill a chunk of the state's sparsely populated region that contains night skies so pristine that interstellar dust clouds are visible in the Milky Way... Supporters say excess artificial light causes sleeping problems for people and disrupts nocturnal wildlife and that a dark sky can solve those problems, boost home values and draw tourists. Opposition to dark sky measures elsewhere in the U.S. have come from the outdoor advertising industry and those against additional government regulations.
Researchers say 80 percent of North Americans live in areas where light pollution blots out the night sky. Central Idaho contains one of the few places in the contiguous United States large enough and dark enough to attain reserve status, Barentine said. Only 11 such reserves exist in the world... The proposed Idaho reserve is mainly land managed by the U.S. Forest Service and contains the wilderness of the Sawtooth National Recreation Area... Leaders in the cities of Ketchum and Sun Valley, the tiny mountain town of Stanley, other local and federal officials, and a conservation group have been working for several years to apply this fall to designate 1,400 square miles (3,600 square kilometers) as a reserve. A final decision by the association would come about 10 weeks after the application is submitted.
Researchers say 80 percent of North Americans live in areas where light pollution blots out the night sky. Central Idaho contains one of the few places in the contiguous United States large enough and dark enough to attain reserve status, Barentine said. Only 11 such reserves exist in the world... The proposed Idaho reserve is mainly land managed by the U.S. Forest Service and contains the wilderness of the Sawtooth National Recreation Area... Leaders in the cities of Ketchum and Sun Valley, the tiny mountain town of Stanley, other local and federal officials, and a conservation group have been working for several years to apply this fall to designate 1,400 square miles (3,600 square kilometers) as a reserve. A final decision by the association would come about 10 weeks after the application is submitted.
I thought the main opposition from dark sky projects usually came from those arguing that street lights reduce crime? A lack of advertising after dark is a good reason for dark sky preserves plus it also reduces energy use.
Here in South Australia, the Astronomy Society of South Australia is also involved in this process, applying to the International Darksky Association for formal accreditation of the Mid-Murray region ( http://www.rivermurraydarkskyr... ), a very sparsely populated region with significant areas of national park. I'd be interested to know know the differences in local legislation/recognition required between the US and South Australia. I'm not involved myself, but from what I've heard the local council here are very supportive.
Si hoc legere scis nimium eruditionis habes.
I'll offer that the few times I've been driving through the middle of frelling nowhere in the middle of a clear night, I've been awed by the number of stars visible and the scene above me. Stop, kill the lights, and stare up in wonder...
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
I also live in Europe, and the first time I saw the night sky the way our ancestors had seen it for millions of years wasn't before I got 20-something years old. I happened to spend the night on a small island with little artificial lighting; for some reason I threw a random look to the sky, and I saw an unexpected spectacle that left me so amazed that I wouldn't look back down for minutes. I discovered that the Milky Way was something that one could actually see in the sky, in its immense size, and not only in pictures on a book. It was quite a revelation, I couldn't believe that such a sight had been denied to me for a lifetime, without me - or anybody near me - ever knowing.
That's sort of the point. First start by preserving the few areas that have truly dark skies, then we can work on better regulations and planning to undue much of the light pollution we have created. There isn't any night sky to preserve in Portland, OR, it would be like declaring Time Square a wildlife preserve. We do have wildlife preserves, and are building out green spaces in cities, sort of a similar idea. Start by preserving what you have and work on creating more.
"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent." [Thomas Jefferson]
I was stationed in Idaho in the 80's, on the way back from camping in the mountains we were traveling down a pitch dark dirt road for like 30 miles late at night, i looked up and told my friends to pull over , they were like why? We pulled over,shut off the lights and when our eyes finally adjusted, there was the milky way, and it was breathtaking! We all climbed on the hood and lay back on the windshield for an hour, just mesmerized by all the stars, best trip ever! You don't realize how much sky youre missing until you see it from a pitch dark location, this needs preserving!