For land trusts that want to protect dark skies, the good news is this: They already do plenty to combat light pollution. By protecting undeveloped land with little human habitation, they inherently preserve darkness, at no added cost. And, when compared to problems like climate change or invasive species, light pollution offers a simpler fix.
“[Light pollution] is more easily reversible, compared to other conservation challenges,” says Dawn Davies, night sky program manager for the Hill Country Alliance in Austin, Texas. “Changing the color and type of light bulbs, shielding light fixtures, directing light only to where it’s needed and turning off lights when in use—these things go a long way toward getting our view of the stars back.”
Read more from Tom Springer with Land Trust Alliance here.