Agency Begins Light Pollution Monitoring.

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NPS initiates a program to address the loss of dark skies.WASHINGTON, D.C.--The National Park Service (NPS) has inaugurated a monitoring project in five parks to address the effects of light pollution on visitors' experience of night skies.Slated for inclusion in the pilot project are Joshua Tree, Sequoia, Kings Canyon, and Death Valley national parks and Pinnacles National Monument. Park Service employees will use custom-made photography equipment, called a charge coupled detector camera, to measure the brightness of the space that interferes with views of the stars at the five parks.According to Chad Moore, physical scientist at Pinnacles and coordinator of the project, the ultimate goals are to establish a measurable standard for light pollution, provide resource managers at park units with measurement tools, and raise awareness of light pollution in the general populace."My dream would be that we would have an inventory of all the natural resource National Park Service units' light pollution levels and that each of those parks would enter into a partnership with local communities to reduce light pollution," said Moore. "We're trying to protect those crystal clear nights that are so inspiring to the visitors," he added.The Park Service project comes on the heels of NPCA's initiative to address light pollution in the parks--an initiative that included a special report that found that light pollution was considered a widespread problem at national parks. According to the report, light pollution not only affects visitors' experience of viewing dark skies, but also endangers some birds and sea turtles by drawing them away from their natural habitats. In addition, excessive exterior lighting wastes energy--costing the United States more than $1.5 billion annually"We're very pleased with the Park Service's initial response to our report," said Dave Simon, NPCA's Southwest regional director. "However, the project needs to be expanded, and NPS must make a long-term investment.""This is just the beginning of what has to be a bold new effort to save our dark skies. But it's a good beginning," he added.According to John Notar, meteorologist for the Park Service's Air Resources Division, the agency also has developed a computer program that calculates the magnitude of stars lost to visitors' view because of light pollution. The program helps NPS to work with local communities on reducing both light and air pollution, which exacerbates the loss of dark skies by scattering light."The national parks are in some cases the last areas that you can count on having dark skies," Notar said. "Dark skies are an endangered species."Various communities around the country are working to reduce light pollution. One such is the city of Moab, in Grand County, Utah. Light from the community affects both Canyonlands and Arches national parks. Lillian Makeda, a local community activist, and others in Moab are bringing together members of the city and county councils and planning commissions with representatives from the Park Service and state parks to discuss the issue. Makeda hopes that the city and county will adopt a unified code to combat light pollution."Sometimes, it's one light at a time," said Makeda.Both Shenandoah and Grand Canyon national parks are also individually working to develop light pollution plans.