Jackson Hole News and Guide Close-Up Feature

If you’re in the Jackson Hole area, be sure to pick up the current weekly edition of the Jackson Hole News & Guide! In the weekly section, Close-Up, I’m currently featured for my efforts in getting Jackson, Wyoming and surrounding areas to be dark-sky compliant. I’m very honored to be featured so prominently about my work that coincides so directly with what I love.

The article goes into a lot of depth about my past and how I got to where I am now, and also brings up the issues I’m working to raise, such as the marketing potential that Jackson is letting slip by, particularly with the upcoming 2017 Total Solar Eclipse and many other nighttime activities.

For those that don’t know, over the past year I’ve been working with Wyoming Stargazing and the Teton Photography Group to bring more awareness to the Jackson Hole region about the dangers and inefficiency of light pollution. Light pollution is the scattering of light at night that obscures the night sky. If a light fixture is not shielded nor pointing down, the light scatters up into the sky, thus producing "light pollution." This creates a very negative effect on human health, wildlife and the ecosystem, safety for pedestrians and drivers, and consumes significantly more energy than is actually needed. In addition to those consequences, it drastically reduces what’s visible in the night sky, eliminating a key component of our natural, daily cycle and a source for Universal perspective.

As our progress has continued, we’ve received great support from the community, as well as the Jackson Hole & Yellowstone Sustainable Destination Program and the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, the latter providing a wealth of knowledge and guidance in helping us target our message to the most conducive recipients.

2015 should see lots of progress in bringing back our night skies as well as what will hopefully be my first full-length documentary, something I’m currently in the process of producing.

For those not in the Jackson Hole area, the full article can be read online at this link on the News & Guide website: Seeing the light of darker skies.