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?

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.