International Dark-Sky Association

Dark Sky Parks and Preserves

Help to stop
Light Pollution

If not you
then who?

• Cherry Springs State Park - Pennsylvania's First Official Dark Sky Park
• Cherry Springs State Park - Pennsylvania Bureau of State Parks
• Cherry Springs State Park,  Potter County, PA boasts 0% light pollution

 
• McDonald Park Dark Sky Preserve near Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada -- 

McDonald Park was was officially designated as a Dark Sky Park April 7th 2000.
 
• Torrance Barrens - The Dark Sky Experience --The Torrance Barrens was designated

a Conservation Reserve in 1997, culminating a grassroots community effort to have it legally
protected.
 
• Potawatomi Wildlife Park is managed as a "Dark Sky Preserve" -- located in north central Indiana
  
  
• Campain to establish Manitoulin Island Ontario, Canadian as a National Dark Sky Sanctuary
 
• Preserving Pristine Night Skies in National Parks and the Wilderness Ethic, by Dan Duriscoe (pdf)
 
• National Public Observatory's Stars-n-Parks program
 
• Lake Hudson State Park Dark Sky Preserve
  

• National Parks Service Web Site -
  Search the National Parks Service Web Site for "Night Skies" or "Light Pollution"
  
  
• When Less Light is Better - A New Standard for Yosemite National Park -

Renowned lighting designer Jim Benys's report on efforts to preserve the night in Yosemite.
 
• National Parks Service initiates a program to address the loss of dark skies -
  Agency Begins Light Pollution Monitoring -
  
A report by National Parks Conservation Association Magazine September-October 2000
"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." - John Notar
 
• Modeling Light Pollution from Population Data and Implications for National Park Service Lands
• Measuring, Managing, and Interpreting Night Skies - National Parks Service  [link suspended by NPS]
• Perserving endangered night skies, - NPS Natural Resource Year in Review--2001
  
• National Parks participating in the initial Light Pollution monitoring project.
• Death Valley National Park, CA - NPCA Link
• Joshua Tree National Park, CA - NPCA Link
• Kings Canyon National Park, CA  - NPCA Link
• Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, AZ - NPCA Link (conduction independent project)
• Pinnacles National Monument, CA - NPCA Link
• Sequoia National Park, CA  - NPCA Link
• National Parks frequently used by stargazers and Amateur Astronomers -
• Grand Canyon National Park, AZ - NPCA Link
• Joshua Tree National Park, CA - NPCA Link
• Lassen Volcanic National Park, CA - NPCA Link
• Mount Diablo State Park, CA - NPCA link
• Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, CA  - Dark Sky Link
• Muir Woods National Monument, CA - Dark Sky Event Link
  
  
• National and State Parks search NPCA
• Other Issues To Be Addressed In Future Plans -- National Parks Service [link suspended by NPS]
• Glen Canyon development plan - National Parks Service  [link suspended by NPS]
• The Stars at Night are Big and Bright... National Parks Service  [link suspended by NPS]
• After Dark at Big Bend National Park -- National Parks Service  [link suspended by NPS]
• NPCA and others propose that Bioluminescent Bay be protected as part of the National Park System.
• Visitor Experience - a NPCA assessment of what visitors see and what is important
• Regional Haze in National Parks - A problem related to and a component of Light Pollution
• NPCA Annual Report  The Future of Park Protection - references Light Pollution
• Light Invades America's National Parks - Environment News Service (ENS), 24 Mar 99
• NPCA Survey Finds Light Pollution Threatens National Park System  -- LFR Regulatory News, 24 Mar 99

Organizations increasing awareness of Light Pollution in and around our Parks

• Parks Canada - [English]  --  Parcs Canada - [Français]
• The George Wright Society
• The National Parks Conservation Association
  Light Pollution in USA National Parks. from NPCA.
  
• Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS)
• Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) - Threat to ...  -- references Light Pollution
• Scenic Virginia

Organizations related to parks and recreation

• National Recreation and Park Association
  

Dark Sky Activities Related to State Parks - programs, LP studies, etc.

• Help Save Brazos Bend State Park
• Dark Sky Park Established in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada
• Georga HB 942 - Parks, historic areas, dark sky preserves, etc. 
• Georgia House Bill 645 - Natural resources; dark area preserves; highways; light trespass 
• Lake Hudson Dark Sky Park - Onstead, Michigan
• Michigan House Democratic Caucus Press Release
  

• PROTECTING DARK SKIES / The George Wright Society Forum
• The Ultimate Cultural Resource? / Jerry Rogers and Joe Sovick (pdf)
• Preserving Pristine Night Skies in National Parks and the Wilderness Ethic / Dan Duriscoe (pdf)
• Visual Estimations of Night Sky Brightness / Chadwick A. Moore (pdf)
• Light Pollution and Marine Turtle Hatchlings: The Straw that Breaks the Camel’s Back? / Mark Nicholas (pdf)
• Modeling Light Pollution from Population Data and Implications for National Park Service Lands / Steve Albers and Dan Duriscoe
• Blinded by the light, The Vancouver  Courier 19 Mar 01
• Let There Be Dark -May 22/2000 edition of Maclean’s magazine

References to, Torrance Barrens and McDonald Park dark sky preserves.
• Dark Sky Preserve,  Ontario, Canadian - a transcript from Living on Earth 04 Aug 00
• Dark Sky Preserve,  Ontario, Canadian - a transcript from Living on Earth 12 Nov 99
• Lonely Planet Scoop - Torrance Barrens Dark Sky Preserve - August 13, 1999 
• Light pollution threatens national parks - CNN 3-29-99
• Lake Hudson Dark Sky Park - Onstead, Michigan 
• Stars Vanishing From National Park Night Skies (NPCA) 3-24-99 
• Torrance Barrens Dark Sky Preserve - Living On Earth audio (RealTime player required)   BAD LINK 
• Living On Earth: Dark Sky Preserve -- Torrance Barrens Conservation Reserve 11-12-99

IDA Web site references - raw links not checked fully

• Newsletter #46 (June 2001) - "proposal for several Dark-Sky Preserves throughout  Malta"
• Newsletter #45 (March 2001) - "British Columbia Dark-Sky Park Update"
• Newsletter #44 (December 2000) - "light pollution measurement protocol for our national parks"
• Newsletter # 41 (March 2000) - "Measuring Sky Brightness"
• Newsletter # 40 (December 1999) - "New Alliances"
• Measuring Sky Brightness 29 Jan 2000

• Search the National Parks Service for Light Pollution information
• Google Search for - National Parks Dark Sky Preserves Light Pollution