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Light pollution grows every year, which leaves parks and protected areas as
some of the last places with a genuinely dark sky. Parks have outdoor lighting
of their own, so protecting the view means changing how parks light
themselves.
The obvious objection is the visitor. Darker paths might feel less safe,
harder to navigate, and more restrictive — red-light torches only, after dark
and before dawn. Whether visitors would accept that had never been measured.
What was measured
An on-site intercept survey at nine state and national park units in Utah,
asking nighttime visitors whether they supported seven specific management
actions and what they wanted to learn about.
The study also drew a line nobody had drawn before: between visitors
dependent on the dark sky — there for the stars — and visitors whose
activities happen at night but do not need darkness. Defining that group may
outlive the findings, because night-sky research has had no way to talk about
it.
The findings
| Nighttime visitors doing something that depends on a dark sky | 62% |
| Support for each of seven management actions | 74–89% |
| Interested in learning more about night skies | 57–75% |
Dark-sky-dependent visitors supported some of the alternative lighting
practices more strongly, as you would expect. **What matters is that the
others supported them too.** The objection the survey was built to test did
not show up.
Who did the work
J. Adam Beeco and Sharolyn J. Anderson (NPS Natural Sounds & Night Skies
Division), Emily J. Wilkins (USGS), Anna B. Miller, Chase C. Lamborn and
Jordan W. Smith (Utah State University), Zachary D. Miller (NPS Intermountain
Regional Office).
Beeco, J. A., et al. (2023). [Support for management actions to protect night
sky quality: Insights from visitors to state and National Park units in the
U.S.](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301479723016663)
Journal of Environmental Management 345, 118878.
Where this belongs
- Arches National Park
- Bryce Canyon National Park
- Canyonlands National Park
- Capitol Reef National Park
- Natural Bridges National Monument
Sources
Written from the National Park Service's
summary of the study,
a work of the United States government in the public domain.
In these collectionsCapitol Reef National ParkBryce Canyon National ParkCanyonlands National ParkArches National Park
Licence: CC0 1.0 (public domain) · Adapted from www.nps.gov
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