Newport State Park designated as Wisconsin's first 'dark sky' park

Lee Bergquist , Lee Bergquist | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Show Caption Hide Caption The Earth rotates This video captures beautifully what human eyes do not see - that the Earth is rotating through Space, so the stars in our sky are not static, but appear to revolve as the night progresses.

The clear night skies of Newport State Park have long held an allure for visitors to the park on the northern edge of Door County.

Now, the park is getting some recognition for it.

The International Dark-Sky Association has named Newport a dark sky park, the first in Wisconsin.

Newport is just one of 48 parks in the world to receive designation from the Tucson-based group, which aims to protect night skies from the dimming effect of urban sources of light.

The association advocates for the protection of night skies, conducts public education campaigns and promotes responsible outdoor lighting.

Located along the Lake Michigan shoreline near the tip of Door County, Newport joins Big Ben, Glacier and Grand Canyon national parks and 13 other state parks across the nation in receiving the designation.

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Newport's chief attribute is the lack of "sky glow," or illumination from nearby sources of artificial lighting, said Michelle Hefty, park superintendent.

To visitors, this means that the Milky Way and the northern lights are much brighter. The Perseid meteor shower in August is routinely a big attraction.

"It's like a fireworks display," said Hefty, who says the park attracts up to 300 people for the meteor shower. "I always know when I missed a good one when I hear the oohs and the ahhs."

Astronomers in northeast Wisconsin have known about the park's reputation for dark skies for years.

But in recent years, as word got out about the efforts to obtain an official dark skies designation, out-of-state astronomy organizations and others have been showing up for the high-resolution night skies, Hefty said.

Dark skies have other benefits, such as the lack of light pollution that can harm some wildlife and ecosystems.

Some birds that migrate and hunt at night navigate by available moonlight and starlight. Artificial light can lead them off course, according to the association. Insects drawn to light can mean higher levels of mortality than necessary.

Park officials had to meet certain qualifications to be named a dark sky park. This included sky meter readings that measure the darkness of the night sky from 14 locations as well as conducting astronomy education programs and developing a plan to manage artificial light sources.

The park, for example, had to meet a requirement that 67% of its lighting be dark sky friendly, meaning that park lights must point down and their brightness could not exceed certain limits. The park is in the process of switching the remainder of its lighting to dark sky friendly.

Wildcat Mountain State Park in western Wisconsin has also been trying to achieve such a designation.

The idea for the designation began four years when Ray Stonecipher, a retired University of Wisconsin-Whitewater professor of astronomy who died at age 87 in 2015, began working with park officials to supply the association with data for the designation.

Also supporting the measure was the Door Peninsula Astronomical Society and the Newport Wilderness Society.

Newport is a 2,373-acre wilderness park that provides only backpack camping.