Dark skies are a magnet to reel in astrotourists

University economists from Missouri State University recently confirmed that dark skies are good for tourism. 

Professors David Mitchell and Terrel Gallaway studied the “economic impact of dark sky tourism” within the Colorado Plateau region in the American Southwest. 

They reported: “We know that experiencing nature and viewing scenic vistas are consistently important factors to many visitors to public lands. Dark skies are a valuable resource.”

 

“This presents local communities and parks within the Colorado Plateau with unique opportunities for partnership. If public land managers and local communities were to work together to promote dark sky tourism and increase the number of visitors to the area, the economic impact would be substantial.” 

The researchers added: “Preserving dark nighttime skies also helps protect the health and diversity of local wildlife populations, which are often the primary amenity that visitors to national parks are seeking.” 

Closer to home, “the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina stood as silent witnesses to the uninterrupted, nightly rain of starlight for nearly a half-billion years, but artificial light now threatens this nightly show,” wrote Tim Gardner of High Country Press in Boone. 

The western mountain counties of Avery, Mitchell and Yancey are sensing astrotourism benefits directly related to the presence of the state’s only official International Dark Sky Park – designated by the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA). 

This is a unique public/private partnership administered by Mayland Community College, consisting of an Earth to Sky Park and the Bare Dark Sky Observatory. The facilities are situated on a 6-acre site within the ultra-dark Pisgah National Forest. The location is about midway between Spruce Pine and Burnsville.

 

Nationally acclaimed, the Mayland site was the first in the southeastern United States to be certified by the IDA (in 2014). At an elevation of 2,736 feet, the park and observatory combine to form one of the top stargazing sites east of the Mississippi River. It is rated as one of 23 “best dark sky venues” in the world. 

Observatory director Dr. Steve Brunton says stargazers travel to Mayland from many U.S. states. All are “coming to witness the sky in a way that is unavailable in brightly lit urban areas.”

Visitors are “blown away by the canvas of stars overhead or being able to see Jupiter or Saturn for the first time,” Dr. Brunton commented. 

The opportunity looms to make yet another “mountains to the coast” connection. It’s about 400 miles from Spruce Pine to Carteret County and Cape Lookout National Seashore…and all down hill. 

Cape Lookout park officials are applying for IDA recognition, in cooperation with the Crystal Coast Stargazers Club. A club official said: “If we have dark skies, they will come.” 

“They” are the astrotourists who move about the land seeking total darkness to gaze at stars in the sky. 

The initiative has the support of several local governments, business leaders and community organizations within Carteret County. 

As park rangers are known to say: “Half The Park Is After Dark.” 

NPS management policies emphasize: “Dark night skies are valued both as a natural and a cultural feature. They are important to wilderness character and air quality.” 

“Not only do pristine nightscapes enhance visitor experiences, they are also important to wildlife survival and the integrity of the ecosystem,” the NPS remarked. 

Molly Harrison, a contributor to Our State magazine, observed from Portsmouth Island, at the northeastern tip of Carteret County: “At night…the dark is solid black, pierced with the most stars you’ve ever seen.”