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    • HOME
    • TAKE ACTION!
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    • Other Initiatives
      • The Right to Night
    • CONTACT
    • MERCH
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  • HOME
  • TAKE ACTION!
  • Learn More
    • Maps. Documents, Etc.
    • Videos
    • Guest Speakers
  • Latest News
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  • Other Initiatives
    • The Right to Night
  • CONTACT
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  • DONATE

End the Prohibition on Dark Sky Preserves in the U.P.

Please join us this week in a concentrated push to urge the U.P. lawmakers to support the legislation to overturn the prohibition on Dark Sky Preserves in the Upper Peninsula.

 We especially need Yoopers to make their voices heard. The targets of this campaign are all the state lawmakers of the Upper Peninsula, and they will only support the legislation if they hear from residents in large numbers.


Non-residents are welcome to participate. You may wish to express how much you'd love to bring your tourist dollars to a U.P. Dark Sky Preserve and local businesses. Although other reasons may be more important to you personally, economic arguments are most likely to resonate with our lawmakers.

Step One: Fast Action Form — Takes just two minutes!

Step Two: Contact Lawmakers Directly!

Send a personal email, give a phone call, or invite them to a coffee!

A direct conversation with lawmakers or their offices is the most powerful tool.


Again, we especially need Yoopers to reach out to lawmakers. This push will be most effective if our legislators hear directly from constituents! 


  • Representative David Prestin DavePrestin@house.mi.gov — (517) 373-0156 
  • Representative Karl Bohnak KarlBohnak@house.mi.gov — (517) 373-0498 
  • Representative Parker Fairbairn ParkerFairbairn@house.mi.gov — (517) 373-2629 
  • Representative Greg Markkanen GregMarkkanen@house.mi.gov — (517) 373-0850
  • Senator Ed McBroom senemcbroom@senate.michigan.gov — (517) 373-7840
  • Senator John Damoose senjdamoose@senate.michigan.gov — (517) 373-2413


Here are all of the e-mail addresses for your copy/pasting convenience:

DavePrestin@house.mi.gov, KarlBohnak@house.mi.gov, ParkerFairbairn@house.mi.gov, GregMarkkanen@house.mi.gov, senemcbroom@senate.michigan.gov, senjdamoose@senate.michigan.gov


As a recap, ending the Dark Sky Preserve prohibition will:

  1. remove an unjust regulation which is not applied just south of the Mackinac Bridge — an important conservative talking point: we are reeling in government overreach to restore the free market!
  2. allow U.P. state lands and State Parks (like the Porcupine Mountains) to become designated as Dark Sky Preserves, which, through protecting the quality of their darkness, would benefit both the ecology and the economy through potential astrotourism revenue
  3. have no impact on development in the areas surrounding the Dark Sky Preserves


Ending this prohibition is an important step in restoring legal fairness between the Upper and Lower Peninsulas. On a deeper level, it is an acknowledgment of the collective value of the night sky as our universal human heritage! 


Tell them this is not a partisan issue: In these divided times, the same stars shine down on us all.

STEP THREE: Share the Fast Action Form far and wide!

STEP THREE: Share the Fast Action Form far and wide!

STEP THREE: Share the Fast Action Form far and wide!

STEP THREE: Share the Fast Action Form far and wide!

STEP THREE: Share the Fast Action Form far and wide!

STEP THREE: Share the Fast Action Form far and wide!

Why is it that, even though the nights are purest in the Upper Peninsula, all of the Dark Sky Preserves are in the Lower Peninsula?

It turns out, legislation drafted in 2012 actively prohibits Dark Sky Preserves in the Upper Peninsula.


This is a gross intrusion of government into the rights of Upper Peninsula residents to take the same steps afforded to those downstate to protect our nights. It's high time to repeal this unjust legislation.

Sign the Petition

Our Shared Heritage

Since time immemorial, humans have found great wonder and meaning in the majesty of the starry skies and northern lights, beheld in the company of those nocturnal members of our animal family to whom the night means no less than survival.


The majority of mammals, amphibians, and insects are nocturnal — along with a great many fish, reptiles, and birds — meaning that their mating, communication, predation and foraging, territoriality, reproduction, and overall persistence are highly dependent on the onset of darkness. For such creatures, the onslaught of light pollution has been the single greatest impact humans have made to the planet. Even flora, fungi, and bacteria produce melatonin — the night hormone — which is crucial for mental and physical health and even suppresses cancer. Terrestrial life itself is programmed with the need for night, and humans are no exception. But light pollution is increasing at a rate of 10% per year, and nowhere, not even the Upper Peninsula, is immune. 

Learn More

We don't wait until we're in a desert to talk about saving the forest.

There used to be thousands more stars visible in and around towns like Marquette, Houghton, and Ironwood. This trend will only continue, with light pollution radiating ever further outward and upward. The longer we wait to protect Upper Peninsula nights, the more degraded will be their quality when at last they are protected. Therefore, let us be proactive and demand from our lawmakers that the unjust prohibition on Dark Sky Preserves be lifted!

Sign the Petition

Let There Be Dark: Ending the Prohibition on U.P. Preserves

This event was held on February 25th, 2025. In the first hour, panelists present on the value of natural darkness more generally. In the second hour, panelists discuss the prohibition on Dark Sky Preserves in the Upper Peninsula.

Sign the online petitionPrint Paper Petitions (for u.p. residents)

The Right to Night, Video 1

 

The Right to Night, Video 2

Frequently Asked Questions

Please reach us at ProtectThePorkies@gmail.com if you cannot find an answer to your question.

Not at all! Consider Flagstaff, Arizona, the world's first International Dark Sky City, with a population of over 75,000 — that's nearly four times the population of Marquette, and yet due to intelligent lighting design, residents can see the Milky Way from within city limits. Does that sound so terrible?


Because nights used to be "plenty dark" everywhere, but what happened? Time is what happened. Cities and towns expand, new industrial operations arise, all of it requiring lighting, and none of that lighting respects private property lines but instead radiates for many miles outward and upward. The Milky Way and Northern Lights used to be far more visible in and around the U.P.'s urban centers. We don't wait until the forest is chopped down to talk about protecting it — we've got to be proactive!


Allowing Dark Sky Preserves would be a collective declaration that our shared heritage of the starry skies are something worth protecting.


We are currently in the educational phase of this campaign and we are collecting signatures for our petition demanding an end to the prohibition on Dark Sky Preserves in the U.P. Please sign, then share the petition far and wide! Eventually, the petition will serve as an important symbol in communicating our message when we lobby lawmakers to have the legislation overturned. Signing the petition will also give you access to updates, so we can keep you informed about future actions.


Help Our Cause

ProtectThePorkies is run entirely by volunteers dedicating considerable time and energy to this important cause. As a small team, we strive to make efficient and constructive use of funding. Your contributions assist greatly with our mission. 


  • PayPal (click the button below)
  • Venmo: @ProtectThePorkies (if asked for last four digits, 6667)


You may also mail checks to this address:


PO Box 6

Wakefield, MI

49968

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