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a Sonoma Land Trust stewardship blog

Mountains + Molehills focuses on the adventures of the Sonoma Land Trust stewardship crew, and the day-to-day challenges and blessings that they face. The daily schedule of each crew member may involve working with power shovels, connecting with landowners, hiking around the Sonoma Valley Wildlife Corridor, building habitat for burrowing owls, avoiding skunks, trooping through poison oak, and so much more. Every day is an adventure, and we hope to share those adventures with you!

preserving our dark skies

3/1/2019

3 Comments

 

by Elizabeth Newton

I see skies of blue and clouds of white
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night
And I think to myself, “What a wonderful world”

— Louis Armstrong
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​Last night, I walked along our rural lane, marveling at the beauty of the winter night sky where Orion and Sirius were twinkling brightly due to the waning crescent moon. I heard the cry of a mother fox and the answering mew of her kit, a reminder that the night-hunting shift was well underway. I’m thrilled to hear these sounds, just as I am to hear the soft hooting of the great horned owls and the screeching of the barn owls. We need all these night-hunting predators to keep our rodent population in check.
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Unfortunately, too often, our neighbors seem unaware of how important it is to keep the night skies free from light intrusion. In my neighborhood and elsewhere, I am disheartened at how often I see lights that are thoughtlessly installed and then left on all night long. Any fixture that aims light upward instead of down at the ground can blind or disorient night-hunting animals. In widespread use, they can also dim the night sky for those of us who cherish watching meteor showers, lunar eclipses or just simple star gazing.
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Fortunately, there are some international efforts aimed at working toward reclaiming the night skies by reducing light pollution. The International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) is an organization that seeks to preserve dark skies by providing educational resources to individuals and communities that wish to improve home and civic lighting. The IDA has stated that lights pointed toward the ground not only prevent light pollution, they are also a much safer choice for businesses and homeowners because they focus the light where it is most needed.
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​We are fortunate to live in a county with such beautiful night skies. Small efforts by individuals and communities can add up to make big changes. Let’s all do what we can to preserve the dark sacred night. 
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Elizabeth Newton is Sonoma Land Trust’s Office Manager. She lives in Sebastopol with her husband on a small hobby farm and tracks in as much soil into the office as the stewardship team. ​

3 Comments
Lee James
3/6/2019 08:09:05 pm

We have less than half the stars we had even 20 years ago. There are so many outside lights. One winery has a near Searchlight facing straight up on their flag which is there all night. Is there anything that we can do about this? Every new place just adds more lights.

Reply
Elizabeth Newton
3/7/2019 10:55:48 am

Hi, Lee:
The website for the International Dark Sky Association has a letter template which you can modify and send to neighbors and businesses who may not know the effects that their light is having on the skies. I have successfully used this to reach out to a business near me. They didn't eliminate all their lights, but they did reduce them.

I would like to see our cities or maybe even the county look into creating creating a lighting ordinance, as the city of Davis has done. It would be a great thing for the board of supervisors to consider.

Reply
Justin Boyle link
10/30/2022 05:22:08 pm

Value low animal away sell our maintain. Form threat exactly. Determine send affect always window evidence think.

Reply



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    Sonoma Land Trust is a local nonprofit based in Santa Rosa, CA, that conserves scenic, natural, agricultural and open lands in Sonoma County for the benefit of the community and future generations. This blog focuses on SLT's stewardship team, whose members do hands-on work to directly protect, restore, and safeguard the land for generations to come.

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