On September 15, the City of Alpine, Texas, approved a proclamation that designated October as “Dark Sky Month.” This announcement came as citizens worked towards having Alpine recognized by the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) under its Dark Sky Community designation.
Gil Bartee, vice president of development for Sierra la Rana, a development near Alpine, said, “Our plan is to use the James T. Walker Dark Sky Fund to retrofit existing non-dark-sky-friendly lighting with dark-sky-friendly lighting.”
Bartee said his group has selected a local church and a building supply company as its first retrofit locations. “We will work with the owners of these locations to change out the existing lighting with dark-sky-friendly fixtures and have the retrofit publicized in the local news media,” he said.
During October, the group plans to finalize its work on a new Lighting Ordinance for Alpine.
Bartee added, “We have scheduled an Alpine Star Party for October 16 and 17 at Sierra la Rana and October 18 at the Luz de Estrella Winery in neighboring Marfa.”
Related podcast: Bob Gent of the International Dark-Sky Association explains what you can do to save the night sky.