Clearly seeing the Milky Way and other stars and protecting ecosystems that rely on the day-night cycle are just two of the named benefits of becoming a certified Dark Sky International Community, according to Dana Paiement, senior destination development manager at Visit Estes Park.
The certification also will be beneficial for promoting visitation to Estes Park, she told town board trustees during last week’s board study session.
“Not only does it help protect wildlife, it enhances astronomy, promotes health and improves safety, but it boosts local sustainable tourism,” Paiement told the board. The International DarkSky Place certification is supported by the Colorado Tourism Office through the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade.
“Certification is awarded to communities that actively work to reduce their light pollution, protect their night sky quality, and educate residents about the importance of dark skies, essentially signifying a commitment to preserving a naturally dark environment for astronomy and wildlife observation.” Paiement explained. Certification is awarded through DarkSky International, an organization working to promote dark skies throughout the world.
Paiement said she hoped her presentation to the board would lead to town support in passing a lighting management plan ordinance in the future. VEP already has completed a portion of the requirements, including having convened a coalition for the stars, conducted two DarkSky measurement events during the past year, engaged the community with Dark Sky education and outreach, obtained letters of support from the community and drafted the lighting management plan and ordinances.
Community outreach programs have included Rocky Mountain National Park’s hosting the 2024 Astronomy Festival, night sky and astronomy programs in the national park, at the YMCA of the Rockies and the Estes Park Observatory. In addition, Rocky Mountain Conservancy has secured funding for an intern to complete a lighting inventory of the national park.
Should Estes Park receive certification, it would join six other Colorado communities who already have received certification: Crestone, Norwood, Nucla/Naturita, Ridgeway, Westcliffe/Silver Cliff and Paonia. Others seeking certification include Bayfield, Grand Lake, Rangely, Silverton, and the Western Slope DarkSky Association.
While town board members appeared to generally agree with the concept, they also were somewhat skeptical about how the program would affect individuals and businesses.
“You trigger that keyword — draft ordinances – it gets a lot of people’s attention,” said trustee Mark Igel. “So to be a dark sky community, what would people anticipate? Does it change the fixture? Does it mean reoutfitting your house, your business? Before I say, sure, talk to the town staff to craft ordinances, I’d like to know,” Igel said.
While being supportive of the concept, trustee Frank Lancaster cautioned VEP about being mindful of truth in advertising.
“I think it’s something we should be doing, and we should be aggressive about it, and I do think our (municipal) codes are a lot better than people may think, Lancaster said. However, “I don’t want people coming here and leaving being disappointed because we told them one thing and they got here and they found something else in looking at the stuff from “Smithsonian (magazine).”
“Keep the discussions going,” said Mayor Gary Hall when providing direction to work with town staff on further details. “There will be a lot of development of detail and a lot of the questions out there as we get into looking at potential ordinances, whatever shape that is.”
Listen to story on EVV podcast here:
It will be very hard for the TOEP to receive a dark sky certification with the lights from the parking structure polluting the skies each night.
That said, in our 30+ years here, we have seen the streetlights in our neighborhood changed out at least three times, with each replacement being better than the last at shining down and not ‘out’.