Sedona may well be on its star-lit path of becoming the newest Dark Sky City.
With a 5-2 vote on Sept. 9, the Sedona City Council approved a resolution by Keep Sedona Beautiful (KSB) to apply for dark sky status with the International Dark-Skies Association.
Sedona would become just the fifth community to receive such a designation, which according to the IDA’s website, “was conceived in 2001 to recognize communities that had taken extraordinary steps in preserving the natural night.” If selected by the IDA, Sedona would join Borrego Springs, Calif., Homer Glen, Ill., and Flagstaff as the only communities in the United States to receive the prestigious designation.
According to W. Scott Kardel, who serves as managing director of the IDA, Sedona stands to benefit in a number of ways, both tangible and intangible, from the potential honor.
“Certainly one of the appeals for IDA Dark Sky Places is the recognition this designation brings to the communities, parks and reserves that achieve dark sky status,” said Kardel. “This provides more than just a plaque for the wall but a real sense of status that brings people to the area for stargazing and related activities.”
With a shining example of the benefits afforded to IDA-designated “dark sky cities” found in Flagstaff, residents of Sedona need only head to the high country to see how preserving the night sky can benefit their own city. The presence of Lowell Observatory – one of the world’s foremost locations for astronomical observation – only serves to strengthen Flagstaff’s reputation as mecca for those hoping to gaze upon the Milky Way or the planet Mars with the naked eye.
Sedona Mayor Rob Adams cited Flagstaff’s success with its own IDA-designation as incentive for Sedona to pursue its own application.
“As the citizens of Flagstaff are aware, the Dark Sky Designation sets standards and guidelines for maintaining and enhancing our precious dark skies,” said Adams. “In order to obtain and keep the designation, cities must make a commitment to the guidelines that are established by the IDA.”
The IDA’s Kardel echoed this sentiment, reporting that “there has been a significant increase in tourism for dark sky places … [and] with so many people being cut off from the night sky where they live, astro-tourism is increasing in popularity.”
Joanne Kendrick, who serves as the chair of KSB’s Dark-Skies Committee, confirmed that furthering the connection between Sedona and Flagstaff is one of the priorities of the group’s overall agenda.
“Since Flagstaff’s designation, the region around the city has started to develop a plan to protect the dark skies on the Colorado Plateau, and KSB believes that is the direction our region should take after Sedona receives its designation,” she said. “Our intent is to work with Yavapai and Coconino Counties and other local governments to obtain a regional designation for the Verde Valley. We should look to our neighbors in Flagstaff and the Coconino Plateau and realize that together we can create an environment in Northern Arizona that protects our night skies for future generations.”
Kendrick also pointed to the tremendous economic benefits to be derived from neighboring cities sharing the same IDA-designation, while referencing the emerging astro-tourism industry.
“Dark Skies are important for Northern Arizona’s Astronomical Observatories, which bring in hundreds of millions of dollars to the Arizona economy, including from astronomy tourism,” she said. “This branch of tourism and the astronomy hobby of many residents also generate income from local stargazing events and enterprises in local communities, including Sedona.”
Although the recent resolution was passed with relative ease, a contentious debate over light pollution has clouded Sedona’s starry skies for years, with a small but vocal minority expressing bitter opposition to KSB’s campaign. When the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) expressed its desire to equip Sedona’s main thoroughfare – State Route 89A – with a miles-long string of streetlights, the city’s leaders were given a choice: take control over the roadway’s maintenance and upkeep in perpetuity, or forego that authority and have the lights installed. After voters balked at the cost of controlling SR 89A, the switch was flipped nearly one year ago, and since that time many residents in the area have expressed their concern over perceived light pollution.
Speaking at a City Council meeting on this issue more than a year ago, Councilwoman Barbara Litrell – who was one of two councilmembers to vote against KSB’s resolution in September – couched her opposition to the potential IDA designation by referencing the streetlights.
“Something about it just feels disingenuous and somewhat insincere, in the sense that the first principle of the IDA … is you only put lights where you need them,” said Litrell. “Their second principle is only use them in the amounts required, and 108 lights, 35 feet high with 200-watt fixtures … that’s overkill.”
The stance taken by Litrell has been seconded by some in the community, but several local astronomers and stargazers have actually discovered that the SR 89A streetlights have had minimal impact in terms of light pollution.
Drew Trabish and Dennis Young, both of whom are experienced amateur astronomers with decades of experience peering into Sedona’s night skies, expressed neutrality over the ongoing debate.
“The lights were done well as it is, with good shielding and the best bulbs,” said Young. “But why was the problem of dangerous street crossings not taken care of with motion detecting lights that go on and off automatically at the crosswalks only?”
While the spacing and intensity of Sedona’s streetlights is a matter of personal opinion, Kendrick asserts that the science behind light pollution actually supports Sedona’s eventual IDA-designation.
“KSB helped the city develop their light-pollution limiting, dark-sky compliant lighting ordinance which went into effect Jan. 1, 2001 – a prerequisite for applying for the designation by the IDA,” said Kendrick. “KSB and others also fought hard against ADOT’s continuous-lighting plans along 89A, efforts that did not prevent the lights from being installed, but resulted in the lights being dark-sky compliant, shielded to avoid upward light emission and focused downward to minimize lateral scatter.”
Because the concepts of light pollution and visibility are inherently perceptual, with every individual viewing the night sky from his or her own perspective, many Sedona residents have cried foul over the disappearance of stars or other celestial bodies from their vantage point. While this phenomenon may be true on an anecdotal level, Mayor Adams believes that empirical research supports Sedona’s “dark sky” status.
“While the continuous roadway lighting, which has dark sky compliant fixtures, does provide enough light to make the SR 89A roadway much safer for pedestrians, bicycles and vehicles to navigate at night, the lighting is relatively benign,” he said. “Keep Sedona Beautiful has performed numerous lighting measurements in close proximity of the roadway, and the measurements are well below the standards that have been established by the International Dark Sky Association.”
Stating that the red rock area is recognized worldwide as one of the most unique and picturesque locations in the United States, Kendrick says Sedona also offers a rich night sky. “As dusk turns into darkness and the Milky Way begins to take shape, the Sedona night sky becomes a stargazer’s wonder, filled with trillions of stars that residents and visitors alike marvel at and treasure. This is a natural resource we must and can protect simply by limiting light pollution.” FBN
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