The Columbus Dispatch

Idaho could become first area to get starry designatio­n

- By Keith Ridler

BOISE, Idaho — 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.

“We know the night sky has inspired people for many thousands of years,” said John Barentine, program manager at the Tucson, Arizona-based Internatio­nal Dark-Sky Associatio­n. “When they are in a space where they can see it, it’s often a very profound experience.”

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 United States 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.

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 as a reserve. A final decision by the associatio­n would come about 10 weeks after the applicatio­n is submitted.

The associatio­n also designates Internatio­nal Dark Sky Parks, with nearly 40 in the U.S. Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve in central Idaho, known as a prime destinatio­n among avid stargazers, became one earlier this year.

“There is some astro tourism,” said Ketchum Mayor Nina Jonas, a point driven home last month when thousands descended on the town to be in the path of the total solar eclipse.

Ketchum officials have applied to become an Internatio­nal Dark Sky Community, which would mean joining Flagstaff, Arizona, Dripping Springs, Texas, and Beverly Shores, Indiana.

The Idaho city approved a dark sky ordinance that requires residents to install shields on exterior light fixtures to block light from going upward and mandating holiday lighting by businesses and residents be turned off at night.

Becoming a dark sky community could help with the larger reserve status and even lift property values in the already pricey area by keeping the night sky visible. Nearby Sun Valley, a ski resort city, also has a dark sky ordinance, as does Hailey, which is about 12 miles to the south.

“It’s nice to look up and see something greater than ourselves,” Jonas said.

There’s an intensive effort by volunteers taking darkness readings throughout the region. Those readings, combined with satellite measuremen­ts, will be some of the informatio­n used by the Internatio­nal Dark SkyAssocia­tion in its decision.

Internatio­nal Dark Sky Reserves have two main components, Barentine said. The first is a core area dark enough to meet the associatio­n’s standards. The second is a buffer area with communitie­s that demonstrat­e support in protecting the core by limiting light pollution.

The proposed Idaho reserve is mainly land managed by the U.S. Forest Service and contains the wilderness of the Sawtooth National Recreation Area.

 ?? [NILS RIBI PHOTOGRAPH­Y VIA THE ASSOCIATED PRESS] ?? The Milky Way can be seen in the night sky at the foot of the Boulder Mountains in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area of Idaho. The area could be designated the nation’s first Internatio­nal Dark Sky Reserve if officials and residents there get their...
[NILS RIBI PHOTOGRAPH­Y VIA THE ASSOCIATED PRESS] The Milky Way can be seen in the night sky at the foot of the Boulder Mountains in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area of Idaho. The area could be designated the nation’s first Internatio­nal Dark Sky Reserve if officials and residents there get their...

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