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(IAAC) Fwd: Night Skies in the National Parks
I thought some of y'all might be interested in sharing this with your own State,
Provincial or National Parks managers... It's a lovely piece.
Clear (DARK) skies!
Lew Gramer
Medford, MA, USA
------- Forwarded Message
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1999 21:54:26 -0500
From: Mark Davis - North American Meteor Network <MeteorObs@Charleston.Net>
Subject: (meteorobs) Night Skies in the National Parks
To: Meteor Observing List <meteorobs@latrade.com>
Below is a note I clipped from a NPS mail list which I thought some
might find of interest......
-Mark
> NIGHT SKY AND THE NPS: The night sky has been identified as an
> important resource in many of the national parks. During this past
> decade, many parks have focused on interpreting and preserving the
> dark night sky. While parks have retrofitted their lighting systems to
> reduce light pollution, the parks are vulnerable to light sources
> outside of the parks. To preserve the dark skies of our parks,
> statewide ordinances are needed. The night sky is among 11 endangered
> places in New Mexico that were recently designated by the New Mexico
> Heritage Preservation Alliance. Hopefully, the designation of the New
> Mexico night sky as an endangered place will increase public awareness
> and help achieve statewide protection. The night sky nomination was
> prepared by Jerry Rogers, Superintendent of the Intermountain Support
> Office, Santa Fe and Joe Sovick, Recreation and Partnerships. The
> nomination reads as follows.
>
> "From the pleistocene to the present, the night sky has been an
> important element in cultural heritage. The combination of what
> appeared to be eternal order in certain night sky patterns with such
> changeable things as lunar phases, planetary movements, seasonal
> angles of declination, and annual meteor showers was one of the early
> great stimuli to curiosity. The discovery of predictable order among
> the inconstant was important in the development of belief systems and
> their attendant cultural values--influencing even the idea of what it
> means to be human. It remains so today. Mammoth hunters at Clovis and
> Folsom, ancestral Puebloans at Chaco and Pecos, Vasquez de Coronado in
> his explorations, O=0Fate and De Vargas in their conquests, cowboys on
> nightherd duty, and office workers resting from their daily toils all
> have lived under, admired, and wondered about the same night
> sky--virtually unchanged in human history. A pristine night sky almost
> universally stimulates thought. Some are humbled in their
> insignificance before the visible universe, and some are exhilarated
> by a sense of identification therewith.
>
> Some measure and test the movement of our earthly platform within the
> solar system, the solar system within the galaxy, and the galaxy
> within the universe until human understanding is exhausted and
> calculation at its limit. Some speculate about life elsewhere, and
> some contemplate that the flesh, blood, and bones of our very
> bodies--even the energy powering our thoughts--are of the light and
> substance we see coming down from the spangles above.
>
> Without conscious action it will be much more difficult for future
> generations to have the same experiences, or even to imagine them. As
> urban areas expand and change without consideration of the night sky
> continues, places where it can be experienced grow fewer and more
> difficult to reach. We risk losing a beauty that has been the backdrop
> to and motivator of human action since time immemorial.
>
> Surprisingly, it costs society more to pollute the sky with light than
> to keep it dark. Most upwardly directed light is wasted. We pay once
> in the electric bill for the light that goes where it is not needed,
> again in environmental degradation from emissions in generating the
> electricity, and again in the loss of the night sky that is masked by
> wasted light. The most common security lights are mercury vapor
> lights, which, although the least expensive to purchase, are among the
> most expensive to operate. About 30% of their light goes into the sky
> at angles that perform no service but do contribute to light
> pollution.
>
> There is no evil figure, no profiteering corporation, nor irresistible
> force behind the problem. Today's utility companies are
> environmentally conscious and interested in conserving, not wasting,
> energy resources. What is most lacking is public recognition of the
> problem, broad understanding that light pollution is not inevitable,
> and the will to do something about it. Fortunately costs are minimal
> in preventing light pollution, especially for new developments. Costs
> of incorporating outdoor lighting systems friendly to the night sky
> are not prohibitive. Sometimes they are not costs at all.
>
> Several years ago, when the National Park Service realized that its
> own mercury vapor lights near the visitor center at Chaco Culture
> National Historical Park were a form of pollution and removed the
> lights, the park experienced a 30% reduction in the electric bill. At
> Chaco we learned that shielded floodlights directed downward, and
> properly directed motion sensors
> were effective in meeting visitor and security needs while serving as
> significant energy savers and pollution preventers.
>
> It is not too late! New Mexico is fortunate that unimpaired remnants
> of the clear night sky remain. Some progressive New Mexico communities
> have or are developing ordinances to help preserve this exceptional
> visual, natural, and cultural resource. Some private developments are
> writing protective provisions into covenants on the deeds of the
> houses they build. The New Mexico Heritage Preservation Alliance can
> demonstrate its interest in EVERYONE'S heritage, show support for one
> of the most ancient and universal cultural values, and make a
> significant difference in citizen awareness and in public and private
> action by listing the night sky among the most threatened heritage
> resources in 1998.
>
> SOURCE: Recreation and Partnerships, Santa Fe
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