Minutes – January 21, 2021
Attending:
John Barentine (IDA HQ), Preston Chiaro, Aaron Dekeyzer (IDA Utah), Bettymaya Foott (IDA HQ), Jessica Heim (University of Trinity St. David), David Kieda (University of Utah), Aubrey, Larsen (State of Utah / CPDSC), Kate Magargal (University of Utah), Daniel Mendoza (University of Utah), Janet Muir (IDA Ogden Valley), Justina Parsons-Bernstein (Utah State Parks), Paul Ricketts (University of Utah), Anil Seth (University of Utah), Randy Stanley (NPS IMR), Yi Wei (University of Utah), Crystal White (Friends of Arches and Canyonlands National Parks)
DM: I sent out an email a while back with proposed dates for meetings for the rest of the
year. (April 22nd, July 29th, October 21st)
Utah State Parks updates:
Justina put some links in the chat window:
o Utah State Parks Dark Sky Links for 1/21/21 CDSS Meeting
o Utah’s Parks: The Jewels in our Dark Sky
Crown https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuHgf0Lob0I&feature=youtu.be
o Jordanelle, Kodachrome Basin and Rockport State Parks International Dark Sky
Park Designation Live IDA Facebook Event Joint Announcement and
Interview https://fb.watch/39LTo6lo6t/
o 4-H Dark Sky Module: 167 downloads around Utah and U.S., 6 foreign countries
(Bermuda, China, South Africa, Philippines, India, Mexico)
JPB: We continue to be the state parks leader in the world.
o JM: Great news, terrific!
DM: About the 4-H module, I gave a talk a while back to a university in Colombia about
getting more involved in dark skies. I’d like to share this with them.
o JPB: Absolutely. Quickest link I could find to 4-H Dark Sky
Club: https://utahcounty4h.org/ou-files/DiscoverDarkSkyClubs.pdf
IDA Utah update:
AS: We have started an IDA Utah speaker series. Next is coming up on February 18th at
5pm.
AS: We have a bill in the current session (HB198) to create a speciality license plate for
dark skies that would become a regular-issue plate.
AS: We have a mockup design, which was devised in time for the start of the legislative
session. If the bill is passed, we’re thinking of having a design competition for Utah
artists.
AS: Some history here. We have been working on this since last summer. The Utah
Office of Tourism was originally very excited but that waned a bit when they decided
dark skies wasn’t quite up there as a tourism draw as “red rocks and snow”.
AS: We found a sponsor, Rep. Steve Handy. GOP from Layton. Really likes the idea and
has been pushing it since.
JPB (in chat): When I relayed the info about the Dark SKy License Plate having found
sponsorship to State Parks Leadership, they all said they wanted one.
JM: Fantastic. But SB61, sponsored by the Senator from the west desert, would enable
every conventional billboard to be converted to digital without local input. It’s being
watched nationally. A lot of people have weighed in who are against it. ULCT, Utah
Association of Counties. There probably will be a compromise on this bill, which is
itself devastating.
o DM: Bill number?
o JM: SB61. It has been delayed a bit, but they come in with “complexity and
speed”. There will be no dark skies in Utah if this is passed.
o AS: Something to lobby for, and something to lobby against…
JM: San Jose (Calif.) has had a billboard cap that’s been whittled away over the years and
now they’re facing dozens or even hundreds of these things in their downtown.
DM: Thanks for bringing this up. It’s scary. Biggest signs could be 1,000 SF.
JM: And it enables pre-emption of local control. “Absolutely hair-raising.” The industry
has picked what they think is the easiest state to get it through and move on from there.
“If Utah falls, it’s just the beginning.” Utah already has a lot of billboards, 3rd in the
country per capita (tied with New Jersey).
DM: Thanks, also, to Anil for the update. I’ve worked with Sen. Handy on multiple
issues before and he’s remarkably progressive. He’s part of our advisory board.
JM: Ann Millner, former president of Weber State, is now in the Senate.
o DM: Senate President?
o JM: Yes. She’s heard quite a bit and said that with billboards you have to
“balance the interests”
o JPB: Ann Millner. Majority Whip – Utah State Senate. Republican – District 18
Journal of Dark Sky Studies update:
JB: Getting close to releasing Issue 1.
DM: We have been getting the websites sorted out. We had sites on Squarespace and are
moving them over to WordPress, since we had some problems with Squarespace.
DM: I would like in the next week or two to share the websites with the group for
feedback before it properly goes live. They’re live now but only in wordpress, so likely
no one can find them. So before we publish to our domain names, we would like to get
some feedback from you all.
Colorado Plateau Dark Sky Cooperative updates:
AL: Congrats to IDA Utah on the license plate!
AL: I’ve just finished the Cooperative annual report for 2020 and in particular a
description of what we think are our key initiative.
AL: Western Night Sky Council, a partnership with the GNAR initiative. Originally just
wanted one representative from each of the 11 western states, but it’s ballooned form
there quickly. Quarterly meetings with reps for updates, what challenges they’re
experiencing, shared resources, connecting students with jobs.
AL: Biggest focus will be on improving partnerships and relationships in 2021. CDSS,
the minor, and the Cooperative. A “dark skies hub” of some kind. Consortium as
research; minor as an education component.
RS: CPDSC was started as an NPS initiative, but we don’t own it. It’s owned and
directed by its stakeholders. We’re interested in seeing what the stakeholders want.
Started convening some meetings with those folks recently to discuss what the goals
should be, how to involve students in the minor, community outreach, etc.
KM: Do you have a link to where the report will be posted? I’d like to share this with
students in the minor.
o AL: I’ll share a link when it becomes available.
AL: I’m going to lose my assistant, Sophie Bellina, soon so the position will open up
again.
JPB: We would love to have the minor be a conduit for Dark Sky Interns for our parks
DM: Anything to add, Dave?
o DK: Last meeting we had was in December; should have another one again soon.
We’re trying to figure out to bring people tougher and unify Colorado Plateau
activities. What is our vision, where do we go from here? My interest is to get
faculty members at the U more involved in research. Looking for funding;
maybe have a workshop about that in the summer. How to grow the program, state and city levels, policy. Still figuring out where things overlap, but there’re
a lot of good ideas there.
o DM: Thought the meetings were good and well-facilitated. In the Zoom era, when
I feel like the meeting was worthwhile, it was definitely worthwhile! So many
dark-skies efforts cropping up; really want to bring them together for more
synergy.
PR: USU has at least as big a presence as far as getting people into parks. We may want
to look into working with them.
o DM: Good point.
DM: Anything else?
o PR: Geothermal plant in Milford, working to reduce their lighting. Might be a
good student program.
DM: Get on that early. Our experience with the Rosemont Mine in Tucson
near the Mt. Hopkins observatory has been an ongoing struggle for ten
years, but it looks like it’s really going to happen now.
o KM: I can give a brief update on the MDSS 2 course, which started this week.
Had a higher rate of enrollment than anticipated. 12 students in the first
sequence of three courses last semester. We now have 16 students. We expect
attrition more than addition, so this is a good sign. Won’t be traveling this
semester, but one of the themes is community engagement. We’re looking for
such opportunities, especially outside of the SLC area.
PR: Milford is a hub for alternative energy, so this might be a good push
in the same environmental direction.
DK: It’s a lot smaller than Helper.
PR: There might be other opportunities to go beyond just the community
aspect and get into the industrial aspect. There are a few mines there
that are problematic. The geothermal plant is increasing its lighting and
it’s not dark-sky friendly.
KM: Had a great time on our field trip to Helper last semester and it
helped forge some connections between campus and that rural
community.
AL: Tie me into that conversation. We’re talking to them about a sewer
master plan they want to merge with GIS. So we have a bit of a working
relationship with them.
o DM: Capstone course. I taught it last fall; first cohort of students (9) who finished
the minor in dark-sky studies. We had three goals and added one more in the
course of the semester:
(1) Science/urban planning side. Fly the drones in different locations
around SLC, both east and west side. The idea was to compare whether
light pollution differed across socioeconomic boundaries. Kate was
involved. Drones are a little unwieldy! We had some pretty gnarly
crashes. I’ve been volunteered to be the drone mechanic/engineer. The drones aren’t fully dead, but they need help. We do tether them so they
can’t actually fly away.
(2) Second part was for my students to teach high school students about dark skies. One
group taught 6 lessons; other taught 8 lessons. Really captured the contents of the
minor and presented it in a way that the high school students could understand. It went
really well.
(3) Policy piece. Presented to both Glendale and Rose Park, west side of SLC. Both
community councils were really appreciative. They weren’t too surprised. Glendale
moved to vote to act on our recommendations. It wasn’t just my students presenting,
but they worked with the high school students. So it was those students presenting to
their own communities, their own neighborhoods.
(4) A lasting creative expression piece at SLCSE.
o For every semester we teach a capstone course, we want to integrate all four of
these elements. I won’t be teaching it in the spring.
o BF: Do you have images of what the drones captured?
o KM: Izzy also has an illuminance meter so she’ll get multiple measurements.
o PR: Do you have a lesson plan from the students that you could share with other
people if anyone wants to try to copy the type of planning that went into the
courses given to the h.s. students?
DM: Yes, for sure.
o PR: Would be interesting to add to the data, when you’re taking data with the
drone, Anil and I noticed that it’s brighter in winter than summer in SLC. We
thought it might be changes in foliage cover.
AS: Yeah, I think we can see effects from both snow and foliage from
south physics…
JB: Your seasonal variation might also be due to the presence or absence
of ice/snow. A recent paper on ‘snowglow’ (amplification of skyglow
by snow and ice): https://www.mdpi.com/2313-433X/5/8/69
(discussion about Park City potentially seeking IDA certification)
AD: Park City Council is voting on the lighting ordinance tonight, I
believe. The Planning Dept. is moving forward tactfully to not go for
certification now, but as an option down the road
BF: You’d think if anyone can afford lighting retrofits it would be Park
City!
PR: I started a Facebook group called Dark Sky Support Group. Set it up for people to
ask a community of people questions about dark sky ordinances, IDA stuff, etc. If
people want to join that and help contribute, or invite people to join, please do.
JB: I recently published a policy paper on the Rights of Nature and dual-affiliated with
CDSS. Make sure you do that if you publish!
DM: Anything else? (no)