On Jan. 17 the Sunday Denver Post had an interesting “Save the Dark Skies” article that was 2.5 pages long.
“There’s a growing push to preserve celestial views over rural Colorado as artificial light spills out of cities.” “Night skies never gained the federal legal protection congress established in the 1970’s to limit human degradation of the air, land and water.” These were some of the important things they wrote.
Colorado used to have wonderful night skies with our high elevation and dry air. But artificial lights are taking that away from us. Community campaigns in SW Colorado and the San Luis Valley are working to correct that. Fortunately, we’re still in a dark sky area. Governor Jared Polis backs that effort.
The International Dark Sky Association is based in Arizona where I used to live. It guides communities through lighting overhauls and sky quality meter measuring to verify darkness. For two decades officials have encouraged grass roots action to save starry skies. Unfortunately, Alamosa and Monte Vista have become heavily lit hot spots due to being larger towns.
Saving the starry skies is a worthwhile good for environmental, social and fiscal reasons. Some businesses and residents have replaced old lights with shielded fixtures that direct dim light downward. This has been going on in south-west Colorado.
In Creede dark sky proponents are considering all of Mineral County as a dark sky preserve. Tompkins Hardware and Lumber clerks help homeowners find dark sky friendly fixtures that they carry. So it’s a place you might want to visit, to see what they have that you can use.
I’m sure some of you read this article and found it interesting. I kept it all. I love dark skies, and South Fork is lucky to have them. I will continue to write my Night Sky article for as long as I can, and I love going out at night to look at our beautiful clear night sky. “Views of the Night Sky can sooth the soul.”
