When my granddaughter was in elementary school, I took her outside during a visit on one cold, clear Christmas night. Mother Nature was really strutting her stuff. The moon was full, the firmament ablaze with stars that peppered the inky sky. Mars and Venus were clearly visible to the naked eye.
I pointed out the Big Dipper and Orion and showed her how to find the Little Dipper and the North Star. Having lived her entire life in the city, she was awe-struck.
“Grandma, it’s all so beautiful, and the moon looks so close. It’s like if I was taller, I could reach out and touch it.”
She smiled and then turned to me, the childlike wonder on her face transforming into a puzzled look. “Why can’t I see this at home?”
I paused to think of an appropriate response. “Great question, sweet girl. It’s all there. Perhaps there are so many lights where you live that you can’t see the glory of the lights in the heavens.”
Thinking of that as I write this, the sad truth is she and I couldn’t enjoy that experience today. Why? There’s a definite alteration in the Townsend night sky. The change is not the sky per se. The difference is the brightness of the moon, the brilliance of the stars, the blackness of the night itself. Apparently, Townsend has succumbed to the same virus that infected her night sky in the Madison area.
One word explanation here — development. New homes have sprouted up on every buildable lot on the lake, and most have extensive nighttime illumination. That wouldn’t be as much of a problem if the lights didn’t come on automatically at dusk. Plus, it would be more than helpful if they had motion detectors and/or timers, but like the house directly across the lake from us, most are lit up 24/7. Worse yet, those bad boys are intended for industrial-strength security, not residential home lighting.
So what? Though it’s 3,000 feet away across the water, a neighbor’s security light shines directly into our bedroom. Special shades help, but even on the darkest night non-natural daylight floods into our sleeping space. We are told there’s nothing we can do, but something I learned about recently gives me hope.
Out of the blue (sky), I got an email from Diane, a woman I met years ago. Diane said she had heard about our speaker series at Lakes Country Public Library. She suggested we host a presentation from DarkSky, a movement I didn’t know existed. After she described DarkSky’s mission, I told her about something that occurred at a Townsend town meeting a while back.
That night a couple who lived near the town hall rose to speak during public comment. They asked the board for help with a neighbor who was deliberately directing bright light at their house all night, every night. Repeated polite and then not-so-polite requests for relief elicited ugly retaliation. My understanding is things didn’t resolve until the culprit moved away. Unfortunately, that’s highly unlikely to happen here at Otter Run.
Diane listened sympathetically. She’d heard lots of similar stories before. She then described DarkSky as a national movement that promotes tangible actions to reverse light pollution, defined as “excessive and misdirected artificial light.” This unnatural and exaggerated glow dims celestial bodies, disrupts biological rhythms and denies the sense of awe that comes with a genuinely dark night.
She told me that DarkSky serves as a national resource for education, appreciation and advocacy. Their mission is to promote natural darkness because artificial light causes critical ecosystems to fall out of balance. Birds lose their way; nocturnal mammals, even human beings, can struggle to meet basic survival needs.
Here in Wisconsin, DarkSky partners with municipalities, conservation groups, parks, organizations, electricians, utilities and businesses. It offers resources, workshops and presentations on good lighting practices. It supports community efforts to reduce light pollution and adopt beneficial lighting policies.
One of DarkSky Wisconsin’s major initiatives is Lights Out Wisconsin. This popular program promotes responsible outdoor lighting by raising awareness about the negative impacts of light pollution. They stress positive ways to help preserve this valuable resource.
Effective methods include shielded lighting, warm color temperatures (2200K or lower), motion sensors and simply turning off unnecessary illumination. Other impactful actions are turning off lights during bird migration, “chasing” the northern lights, even marveling at the antics of fireflies.
If you believe in protecting the natural world but don’t know where to begin, attend the special DarkSky presentation. Come see for yourself, and bring a friend. If you can’t attend, visit the DarkSky website for breathtaking photos and helpful suggestions. Information is power.
Kathleen Marsh is a lifelong educator, writer and community advocate. She has published eight books, four on the history of Townsend, where she and husband Jon are happily retired on the beautiful Townsend Flowage.
AT A GLANCE
WHAT: “Natural Night, Natural Light” presented by Sam Saeger, DarkSky Wisconsin president
WHEN: 5:30 p.m. May 20
WHERE: Lakes Country Public Library, 15235 State Highway 32, Lakewood
ONLINE: www.darkskywi.org
