The Colorado Springs Gazette final

Florissant Fossil Beds earns certification as a Dark Sky Park

BY PAT HILL pat.hill@pikespeaknewspapers.com

Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument has been certified as an International Dark Sky Park by the National Park Service and International Dark Sky Association. The certification recognizes the exceptional quality of the park’s dark skies.

Over the past three years, park volunteers and members of the Colorado Springs Astronomical Association measured sources of light at the park.

“The volunteers stayed up really late and with special equipment measured the quality of the night sky,” said Jeff Wolin, the park’s lead interpreter. “We got help from our regional and Washington office when they brought night-photography equipment to take a 360-degree picture of our sky.”

The volunteers, who won a regional award for their work, identified every light bulb in the park, including the types, location and possible activation at night.

“Basically, we don’t have any lights on at night have some motion

Wolin said.

Stars above the fossil beds impart a sense of cultural lore which is captured in a quote that Wolin shares from his cellphone: “We are safeguarding the human imagination by protecting our access to the night sky and its stories,” said by Mary Stewart Adams, a star-lore historian.

With the absence of light pollution, dark skies provide connection to the past.

“Our ancestors looked up at the dark skies,” Wolin said. “So, the certification is part of our heritage that can be passed down to future generations who can see some of these amazing wonders.”

In a time of division in the America, the stars can be more than just a pretty sight.

“Studies of people exposed to the emotional ‘wonder and awe’ were more cooperative with other people,” Wolin said. “If you are standing under these stars looking up at amazing things, at all. We detectors,” you realize you are just this little thing floating on a rock. So, it’s a lot easier to turn to another person and think you should be nicer to that person.”

Animals, too, benefit from dark skies which are part of the ecosystem, Wolin added.

Along with the serenity of the stars, the designation creates economic opportunities for astronomy-based tourism. Light pollution prevents nearly 80% of the people in North America from seeing the Milky Way in the night sky, Wolin said.

The certification does not carry legal or regulatory authority. “This is just about us and our efforts to protect the skies over us,” Wolin said. “But when it comes to the actual changing of light bulbs, we only do that here. We don’t do anything outside of our boundaries.”

To learn more about the designation, the public is invited to a Night Sky program from 8:30 to 10:30 p.m. June 18 in the park. Find more info at nps.gov/flfo/ night-sky-programs.htm.

“We are pleased to be able to provide opportunities for the public to experience the wonders that dark skies provide,” said Therese Johnson, park superintendent, in a news release. “The Monument is uniquely located. It is within a reasonable driving distance of a large urban area, yet far enough away and tucked behind some mountains that block urban light pollution.”

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2021-06-16T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-06-16T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://daily.gazette.com/article/281552293810426

The Gazette, Colorado Springs