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Dark Skies Add to Town’s Beauty ver look up to the skies here at night and think, “Wow, I can see all the stars.”
There’s a reason for that.
In 2020, the City of Fredericksburg was designated as one of five International Dark Sky Communities in the state of Texas. Other areas include Blanco, Horseshoe Bay, Dripping Springs and Water Valley. The focus of a Dark Sky Community is to preserve the night sky by using and enforcing the use of an outdoor lighting ordinance, education and citizen support. The city’s ordinance states if outdoor lighting doesn’t comply with its standards, rules and regulations, they should be made compliant by May 1, 2029. The ordinance in its entirety can be viewed at https:// www.fbgtx.org/974/Dark-Skies-OverFredericksburg-TX. Dark Sky monitoring equipment, which was donated by Ken Kattner and the Putman Mountain Observatory has been installed on the Lady Bird Johnson Municipal Golf Course clubhouse. The equipment begins collecting information when the sun starts to set and data is read
every five minutes and then every 15 minutes.
outreach materials to explain the change.
The data points are averaged so there are four readings per hour. It can be viewed online at http:// putmanmountainobservatory.com/ hill-country-dark-sky-monitors/.
Preserving dark skies is believed to have benefits on human health, as well as wildlife and ecosystems, as animals and plants rely on the natural light cycle and dark rhythm for reproduction, sleep, nourishment and protection from predators, according to the International Dark-Sky Association.
“We encourage citizens to learn about light pollution and why it matters, night sky-friendly lighting, and lighting regulations and to implement practices and lighting improvements that will reduce light pollution, thereby preserving our night skies,” city officials said in a news release in 2021. And the City of Fredericksburg is not the only area of Gillespie County that has recognized the importance of dark skies. Enchanted Rock State Natural Area was designated as a Dark Sky Park in 2014, before Fredericksburg’s designation. Park officials have hosted star parties for visitors since 2011. Most recently, Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park in Stonewall earned the International Dark Sky Park Silver Tier in 2021. This park has tweaked lighting around The Texas White House. It has also created
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IDA also states that the emission of excess light wastes energy, which could have economic consequences. “In an average year in the U.S. alone, outdoor lighting uses about 120 terawatt-hours of energy, mostly to illuminate streets and parking lots,” IDA officials state on their website. “That’s enough energy to meet New York City’s total electricity needs for two years.” The association states that at least 30% of outdoor lighting in the United States is wasted, mostly due to unshielded lighting. This can be costly for the U.S., as that alone is the equivalence of $3.3 billion wasted and 21 million tons of carbon dioxide released per year. >
I Spring/Summer 2022
