The Central Idaho Dark Sky Reserve is a

dark-sky preserve A dark-sky preserve (DSP) is an area, usually surrounding a park or observatory, that restricts artificial light pollution. The purpose of the dark-sky movement is generally to promote astronomy. However, astronomy is certainly not the only obje ...

near the

Sawtooth National Recreation Area The Sawtooth National Recreation Area (SNRA) is a national recreation area in central Idaho, United States that is managed as part of Sawtooth National Forest. The recreation area, established on August 22, 1972, is managed by the U.S. Forest Ser ...

, in the U.S. state of

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

. It was designated on December 18, 2017 and is the first gold-tier dark sky preserve in the United States. The area was designated by

International Dark-Sky Association The International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) is a United States-based non-profit organization incorporated in 1988 by founders David Crawford, a professional astronomer, and Tim Hunter, a physician/amateur astronomer. The mission of the IDA is " ...

. The area includes the city of

Ketchum, Idaho Ketchum is a city in Blaine County, Idaho, located in the central part of the state. The population was 3,555 at the 2020 census, up from 2,689 in 2010. Located in the Wood River Valley, Ketchum is adjacent to Sun Valley and the communities sh ...

which was separately designated a "Dark Sky Community" in 2017.

Idaho State Highway 75 State Highway 75 is a two-lane highway that travels through the Sawtooth Valley of central Idaho. The highway's southern terminus is in Shoshone, and its northern is near Challis. It is designated as one of Idaho's scenic byways and provides ...

in the

Sawtooth Valley The Sawtooth Valley is a valley in the Western United States, in Blaine and Custer counties of central Idaho. About long, it is in Sawtooth National Recreation Area (SNRA) in the Sawtooth National Forest. It is surrounded by the Sawtooth Mounta ...

between Redfish Lake and Pettit Lake roughly traverses the reserve's "core areas". Several sky quality meters are installed along State Highway 75 in this area. Local communities and federal authorities collaborated in the designation; the governments will take measures such as shielding

street light A street light, light pole, lamp pole, lamppost, street lamp, light standard, or lamp standard is a raised source of light on the edge of a road or path. Similar lights may be found on a railway platform. When urban electric power distribution ...

s to preserve the area's dark sky; Ketchum has had a dark sky ordinance since 1999, and Sun Valley, also in the reserve, has its own local ordinance. The

U.S. Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency in ...

, which manages much of the land in the area, will post informational signs about the dark sky reserve, and has said it will reduce

light pollution Light pollution is the presence of unwanted, inappropriate, or excessive use of artificial Visible spectrum, lighting. In a descriptive sense, the term ''light pollution'' refers to the effects of any poorly implemented lighting, during the day ...

from its buildings; compliance by individuals on Forest Service land will be voluntary. Another dark sky certification effort was under way in 2017 about away at

Bruneau Dunes State Park Bruneau Dunes State Park is a public recreation and geologic preservation area in the western United States, located in Owyhee County in southwestern Idaho. It is northeast of Bruneau and south of Mountain Home. Featuring large sand dunes ...

, which hosts a public

astronomical observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysical, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. His ...

References

External links

* * {{Protected areas of Idaho 2017 establishments in Idaho Dark-sky preserves in the United States Protected areas of Idaho Protected areas of Blaine County, Idaho Protected areas of Custer County, Idaho Protected areas of Elmore County, Idaho