Dark Skies & Fighting Light Pollution
The Big Sky Astronomy Club is dedicated to the prudent and wise use of nighttime lighting and supports the efforts of the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA).
The Big Sky Astronomy Club Supports Dark Skies
The above image of the Earth at night was produced from data obtained from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program. It was constructed from a mosaic of hundreds of individual images.
While it is indeed a spectacular and beautiful picture, undelying its surface beauty are some ugly truths: the countless millions upon millions of inefficient and wasteful lights that it displays are damaging our environment, disrupting human sleep patterns and encroaching on the limited habitat of our wildlife, not to mention wasting billions of dollars in energy costs.
The International Dark-Sky Association has estimated that at least one-third of all lighting in the U.S. is wasted; shining uselessly up into the night sky, illuminating areas that do not require lighting and over illuminating those areas where it is necessary.
If you look closely at the image, you'll notice a little red cross-hair in the northwestern United States. That marks the location of the Big Sky Astronomy Club's home - Montana's Flathead Valley.
Light Pollution in the U.S., the Pacific Northwest and Montana
As you can easily see from the overall map of the United States above, light pollution is a major problem, particularly in the eastern half of the nation. The lower two images show close-up views of the Pacific Northwest on the left and Montana on the right. Because of its lower population density, light pollution in the western United States is less severe than that of the eastern portion. It is obvious, though, that the urban areas of the west are no less susceptable to the detrimental effects of light pollution than our eastern neighbors.
It is estimated that, of the $5,000,000,000 in annual energy costs that are wasted world-wide, the United States alone contiributes two billion dollars of that total.
Fighting Light Pollution - Dark Skies in Big Sky Country
For several years, the Big Sky Astronomy Club has been actively involved in the fight against light pollution in the Flathead Valley. Our initial efforts included public recognition of local businesses and organizations that installed dark-sky friendly lighting. Over a six year period, through an awards program that garnered a fair amount of media attention, the Big Sky Astronomy Club recognized at least six local business as well as the North Flathead Yacht Club for their efforts to reduce light pollution in the Flathead Valley.
The battle against light pollution in our state has gained momentum with the adoption of strict lighting ordinances in most of Montana's cities. The cities of Billings, Bozeman, Missoula, Kalispell and Whitefish have all adopted outdoor lighting regulations that, over time, should reduce the amount of light pollution significantly. A bill was introduced in the 2009 Montana State legislative session that would have required (with some exceptions) outdoor lighting fixtures to be fully or partially shielded. Unfortunately, the bill never made it to second reading and died in committee. No bill of this nature has been introduced during the subsequent 2013, 2015, 2017 or 2019 legislative sessions, but efforts will be made to introduce a similar, if not stronger bill during the 2021 legislative session.
The Big Sky Astronomy Club has gained a valuable ally in its efforts to reduce light pollution in Montana. Last year saw the formation of the Montana Chapter of the International Dark Sky Association. Please visit our new website page for more information about the Montana Chapter.
The Montana Chapter of the International Dark Sky Association
May of 2019 saw the formal establishment of the Montana Chapter of the International Dark Sky Association.
The Montana IDA Chapter is dedicated to protecting the state's heritage of star-filled night skies.
The chapter is an all-volunteer, educational group working with businesses, towns, municipalites, groups and individuals to keep our rural night skies dark and full of stars, and to help Montanans tackle light pollution issues in our towns and cities.
The state's chapter has developed an interactive map of 50 "Dark Sky Destinations" and 10 "Dark Sky Event Centers" scattered across our state. This map will direct you to public campgrounds that are located in some of the darkest areas of Montana's Big Sky.
Please take a look at this valuable resource if you would like to plan a trip to one of Montana's wonderful Dark Sky Destinations.
