80% of North Americans live in areas with light pollution, but a 1,400-square-mile patch of central Idaho has been named the US’s first International Dark Sky Reserve due to its pristine night sky. The area is the third largest of 12 such reserves worldwide.
Experts say 80% of North American residents live in areas where light pollution darkens the night sky. But there is one place in the United States that has earned the status of exalted from the International Dark-Sky Association. In December 2017, researchers concluded that the night sky in a 1,400-square-mile (3,600-square-kilometer) patch of central Idaho is so pristine that clouds of interstellar dust are visible in the Milky Way. The sparsely populated area is now considered the nation’s first International Dark Sky Reserve.
A stellar place for stargazing:
The Central Idaho Dark Sky Reserve is the third largest of 12 such reserves worldwide. Others include Aoraki Mackenzie in New Zealand and Exmoor National Park in England.
The area includes some of the most remote and rugged areas in the state and consists mostly of land managed by the United States Forest Service. It includes the Sawtooth National Recreation Area.
“The fact that such dark nighttime environments still exist in the United States is remarkable,” said J. Scott Feierabend, executive director of the Tucson, Arizona-based association.
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