Currently, two-thirds of Americans cannot see the Milky Way from their backyard, and if current light pollution trends continue, there will be almost no dark skies left in the contiguous United States by 2025.
But stargazing isn't the only important reason to turn out the lights. Wildlife is impacted by light pollution because animals often depend on darkness in order to hunt, conceal their location, navigate, or reproduce. Plants (and humans and even us dogs!) are affected by artificial light because it disrupts our natural cycles.
We were pretty excited here in Glacier when the park was designated the world’s first cross-boundary Dark Sky Park in 2017, along with Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada. So that means that when you and generations of future visitors come to the park in the future, you'll be treated to the same starry skies our ancestors could see.
I, for one, am so excited about the brand new observatory outside the St. Mary Visitor Center. Thanks to donations to the Glacier Conservancy, the next time you visit, you'll be able to step inside this dome and look deep into space. How awesome is that?!
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