Recent Successes in Dark Skies Preservation: An Overview

The alarming rate of dark sky degradation due to light pollution is an immediate threat to ground-based astronomy and must be dealt with by effective outdoor lighting standards employing lumen limits, emitted light spectral restrictions, effective shielding, and code enforcement. While often thought to be technically or politically infeasible, Flagstaff, Arizona (with a rapidly growing urban population of well over 100,000) has recently updated Street Light Engineering Standards and the Outdoor Lighting Code, taking advantage of modern Amber LED technologies, which will continue to keep the Flagstaff skyglow at approximately 10% of that of cities of comparable size and which, if widely employed, can be an effective solution to the loss of dark skies worldwide. In this unique Meeting-in-a-Meeting we will hear directly from Flagstaff and Coconino County staff and elected officials who have been responsible for designing, enacting, and enforcing these codes. We will also hear about other successful dark sky preservation efforts throughout the Country.