Utah’s Goblin Valley State Park is now officially an International Dark Sky Park. The designation announced Tuesday comes from the non-profit International Dark-Sky Association in Tucson, Arizona. Scott Feierabend is the executive director of the IDA. He says benefits of dark skies include energy saving, pollution reduction and minimizing the negative impacts of light pollution on ecosystems around the world and in backyards.
“Just losing touch of the stars and the grandeur of the universe," says Feierabend, "that we really are a small speck on the scale of grander things and not being able to look up as we once were to just the beauty and magnificence of the starlight sky I think is a, there’s a spiritual loss that we’ve suffered as well.”
Feierabend says the designation application involves commitments from the nearby community as well as state park officials to darken the night sky and educate the public about its benefits.
“So we look for community engagement that demonstrates that not just a handful of individuals really is on board with the dark sky designation and when all those things come together we have a magnificent result,” Feierabend says.
The designation process takes one to two years. Goblin Valley State Park officials plan a free celebration on the night of October 1st with a star party in the park.
