January 2012 - Parks & Recreation - 59

Parks & reCreatIon at Work

dark-sky gazers
flock to the
Headlands Park in
Michigan

Kept in the Dark
Michigan park honored for its night sky

emmeTcounTy.org

A

By haley adams

ccording to the International Dark Sky
Association (IDA), " Poor lighting threatens astronomy, disrupts ecosystems, and wastes $2.2
billion worth of energy per year in the U.S. alone. "
The " International Dark Sky Park " designation
is one way the IDA seeks to combat these effects of light pollution-dark sky parks must possess not only pristine night skies,
but a way to preserve those skies in perpetuity. The Headlands,
a 600-acre park lapped by the shores of Lake Michigan, is the
most recent park to earn this prestigious International Dark Sky
Park designation. The Michigan park is the sixth site in the U.S.
and the tenth in the world to accomplish this feat.
According to Bob Parks, director of the IDA's Washington, DC
office, the dark sky park designation is difficult to achieve, adding that this difficulty is itself part of the appeal of earning the
dark sky designation. That the Headlands earned the designation at the silver level speaks both to the clarity of the sky and
the dedication of parks officials: it typically takes at least several
years to navigate the various steps required for consideration.

Before a park, community, or reserve can even begin the application process, there must be a cursory assessment of the
night sky using photographs and light meter readings. These
readings are then used to target the sources of light pollution in
and around the area. Next, lighting fixtures within the park must
be inventoried and assessed for dark sky compliancy. Most
parks, according to Parks, begin without a concrete inventory
of all park lighting, necessitating a painstaking look at every light
circumscribed by the area to be designated.
To submit the application, a percentage of lighting in the park
must either be replaced or retrofitted to guarantee that no light
is emitted above the horizon. Parks must have a formal plan outlining the replacement of remaining lighting within the pending
dark sky area.
Even the most diligent use of IDA-compliant lighting, however,
cannot guarantee a sufficiently dark sky, and that is the source
of the greatest obstacle in the process: A park must establish
ties to surrounding communities and local governments in order to guarantee minimal light pollution. This part of the process

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January 2012 - Parks & Recreation

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