Do you enjoy stargazing from your backyard or a Willowsford camp site, such as Grant Family Campground or the Hidden Meadow? Discovering the night can be as simple as stepping off your porch with your outdoor (and indoor!) lights turned off. Let your eyes adjust to the darkness, and if you need to reach for your phone or a flashlight, be sure to apply a red filter: Looking directly at your unfiltered screen or white light will disrupt your nighttime vision for up to 30 minutes.

The dark skies visible from many parts of Willowsford Conservancy are one of our greatest natural resources, and one of our community’s founding principles. Not only do we sustainably farm and steward Conservancy Open Spaces – we strive to keep light pollution at a minimum to protect health and habitat for animals and residents alike. Many animals and plants here at Willowsford depend on natural light cycles and low levels of light pollution for their basic necessities such as food, sleep, reproduction and protection from predators. Migrating birds also can be led off track when they encounter light pollution on their journeys each spring and fall. It is estimated that global light pollution is doubling every eight years, contributing to a significant decline in biodiversity.

What can you do to better protect nocturnal habitat and keep the starlight bright and visible for fellow Willowsford animals and residents?

  • Participate in International Dark Sky Week, April 21-28, 2025. Celebrate and learn more about actions you can take to Protect the Night here from DarkSky International. DarkSky International “restores the nighttime environment and protects communities from the harmful effects of light pollution through outreach, advocacy, and conservation.”
  • Sign a pledge to protect the night by following the Five Principles for Responsible Outdoor Lighting, using lights only when and where you need them, and learning more about the impacts of artificial light on wildlife, habitats, and your community.
  • Visit and support an International Dark Sky place, as nearby as Sky Meadows State Park in Delaplane, or a bucket-list international destination of more than 200 certified Dark Sky places in the world.
  • Learn about what Dark Sky Communities are doing around the world to protect the night.
  • Going camping? Learn about camping-specific Dark Skies conservation tips from Leave No Trace.
  • Dive a little deeper by grabbing your smartphone, putting a red filter on it and embracing your inner night owl: Participate in Globe at Night, an international citizen-science campaign “to raise public awareness of the impact of light pollution by inviting citizen-scientists to measure and submit their night sky brightness observations.” You can find instructions and observation dates for each month here (make sure to use Northern Constellations).

Written for Willowsford Conservancy by Allison Schumacher, Outdoor Education Consultant