The Spectrum & Daily News Editorial Board

While we turn on more and more lights, we are also turning off more and more stars.

One hundred years ago, you could see the Milky Way and thousands of stars when looking up at the sky from anywhere in the world. That is no longer true.

The old adage, “There are as many stars in the sky as grains of sand on the beach,” might still apply but you can no longer see them.

Why is this happening? What is causing this? Easy answer, it’s all of us.

Electricity is a wonderful invention, of course. It allowed man to enjoy and work in the dark and to become much more productive. However, in doing so, we have become careless.

This editorial board is not suggesting we do away with light. What we do suggest is that we should only light what we need lit.

Consider this: In a pristine dark sky, one can see between 6,000-7,000 stars. At Cedar Breaks National Monument, you can see approximately 5,000 stars. But, just a few miles away, in Cedar City’s historic downtown, you can only see about 2,000 stars.

We who live in Southern Utah have much to lose if we lose our night sky. Millions of tourists visit our parks and monuments — and the dark sky is one of the major attractions.

The light pollution problem is becoming so acute that some national parks and monuments are beginning to hire specialists to educate residents and visitors alike. The parks also hope to work with influential local groups and elected officials to protect our dark sky.

Recently, Cedar Breaks National Monument hired Zach Schierl to work specifically on dark sky issues.

“The solution is quite simple: Light only what needs to be lit and ensure that lights are aimed down at the ground where they are needed rather than up into the sky,” he tells us. “We must strengthen the connection with our skies. The lights of Las Vegas can be seen from throughout Southern Utah. From Cedar Breaks National Monument, the light domes from Cedar City, St. George, Brian Head and Panguitch can all be easily seen at night.

“While the skies at Cedar Breaks are very dark, they are not pristine and will only continue to degrade if more thought is not given to using outdoor lighting responsibly in surrounding communities.”

The same is true at Utah’s other national parks and monuments – including Bryce Canyon National Park, which hosts an annual astronomy festival that draws visitors from around the world to enjoy the dark skies. Several other destinations — Canyonlands and Capitol Reef national parks and Dead Horse Point State Park, to name a few — are designated as International Dark Sky Parks by the International Dark Sky Association.

It’s entirely possible for us to make a difference, too.

We need to look no further than Flagstaff, Arizona, to find an International Dark Sky City. Flagstaff enjoys an active dark sky coalition supported by business, government agencies and private citizens alike in an economically vibrant city.

Why not us?

The self-proclaimed University of the Parks, Southern Utah University, wants to help lead the way.

“I learned a few years ago that some of our students, for example international students from large metropolitan areas, had never seen a star in their lives,” SUU President Scott L Wyatt tells us. “The first time was after arriving in Utah and starting school here.”

The university’s future pursuits include LED fixtures at Eccles Coliseum, as well as for campus walkway lights, says Tiger Funk, SUU’s executive director of facilities management. The LED lighting would also produce energy savings for the university, he says.

“As the University of the Parks, whose campus is as beautiful as a park, we are very interested in preserving and enhancing the beauty of the night sky for our students and community as much as possible,” Wyatt says.

We can each play a part in reducing light pollution — in our own homes, our neighborhoods, our communities. It starts at the switch.

It’s not too late to reclaim and preserve our dark skies — for ourselves and all those who will come after us.