It’s the first in Georgia to be named a Gold-tier International Dark Sky Park

Photograph by Rena Johnson

Last November the International Dark-Sky Association, a group that aims to protect against nighttime light pollution, designated Stephen C. Foster State Park in the Okefenokee Swamp as Georgia’s first Gold-tier International Dark Sky Park (other such places include Big Bend and Death Valley).

Park staff and the local electric co-op installed smarter lighting to help earn the seal of approval, which should ensure campers, astronomy buffs, and wildlife in the remote South Georgia park continue to enjoy spectacular starry evenings.

This article originally appeared in our March 2017 issue.