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Members of two international organizations dealing with the issue of light pollution will convene in Snowbird Utah for their annual gatherings. The International Dark-Sky Association’s 30th Annual General Meeting will be held Nov. 9 – 11, followed by the Artificial Light at Night (ALAN) 5th International Conference Nov. 12 – 15. Both events will be held at the Snowbird Ski and Summer Retreat.
About the IDA 2018 Annual General Meeting
The International Dark-Sky Association has worked to fight light pollution since 1988. Protecting the night sky from light pollution is a critical mission that supports human health, preserves wildlife habitat, and provides visual access to celestial objects for professional and amateur astronomers alike. Every year, experts, advocates, artists, and night sky enthusiasts from around the globe gather to share their success stories, cutting-edge research, case studies, questions, concerns, and passions for protecting the night. IDA’s Annual General Meeting is open to the public.
The 5th International Conference on Artificial Light at Night (ALAN) will examine all aspects of artificial light at night. The broad scope of the conference includes how artificial light is produced, where it is present, its effects on humans and the environment, how it is perceived by the public, and how the benefits and detriments of lighting may be balanced by regulation. The ALAN conference is put on in collaboration with the Consortium for Dark Sky Studies, the first dark sky studies center in the world, founded at the University of Utah. 2018 is the first year that the ALAN conference will be held in the United States.
About Salt Lake City
Snowbird Retreat is just outside of Salt Lake City, the historic “Crossroads of the West.” The City sits at the base of the famously scenic Wasatch Mountains and is bounded on the other side by the Great Salt Lake, a remnant of the ancient lake that formed the Great Basin.
Two International Dark Sky Places are located within an hour-long drive of Salt Lake City:
Weber County North Fork Park is situated on 1,000 hectares of mountain valley land in Utah’s Wasatch Range north of the Ogden area. The park’s urban adjacency, intense focus on wildlife, an extensive outreach program and innovative public art incorporating dark skies themes result in a unique dark sky experience for visitors. It remains a wild and rustic place that aims to provide a dark nighttime refuge for humans and wildlife alike.
Antelope Island State Parkis a small fault-block mountain range in the Great Basin, extending from the Wasatch Front to the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Its geology, relatively unaltered landscape, sandy beaches and abundant wildlife are the Park’s main attractions. Because of its situation as an island and a protected land, the Park is free of development on and immediately adjacent to its territory, and this has helped preserve the condition of the Park’s night skies. While its eastern half faces one of the largest metropolitan areas in the western U.S., its western half looks out over the Great Salt Lake and is relatively undisturbed by artificial light at night. The Park has begun to actively conserve its remaining darkness and has become a popular destination for area stargazers looking to get out from under the city’s glow.