2015 began with news that is music to our ears: Virginia's own Staunton River State Park is poised to submit an application to IDA for certified Dark Sky status. The park's manager, Adam Layman, and the Chapel Hill Astronomical Observational Society have led this effort and worked toward certification over the past year. The park has a Bortle's scale reading of between 3 and 4 and is shooting for a Silver rating.
Read more: State park seeks dark sky certification.
Virginia IDA applauds and supports Staunton River Stat Park's aspirations. The IDA Dark Sky Places program protects and conserves night skies as the natural resource that they are. Dark Sky Parks give visitors back their view of the stars while educating them about how light pollution has unnecessarily stolen our night sky heritage for many decades. To paraphrase a quote from IDA's own Scott Kardel, "if someone has never seen and experienced a forest, why would they care about protecting a forest?"
Want to see Staunton River State Park's skies for yourself? Join the Star Party March 19 - 22nd!
