The Dark for the Park Alliance is a collaborative effort between Carlsbad Caverns National Park, Chaco Culture National Heritage Park, New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, Bureau of Land Management, New Mexico State Land Office, McDonald Observatory, DarkSky International, and DarkSky New Mexico. The Alliance is focused on the Permian and San Juan Basins in New Mexico to promote education and recognition to maintain or increase the night sky quality through the adoption of recommended outdoor lighting practices that direct light downward onto the work surface and limit light upward into the sky.
The Alliance has published a lighting guidance document to provide oil and gas companies and other industries a roadmap to maintain or increase night sky quality while maintaining safety and security of operations. The guide includes suggestions on planning, shielding, color, and intensity. Each working location has its own requirements, but the practices are scalable, cost-efficient options for new builds and retrofits.
The protection of night skies is a priority for many industries and individuals throughout the Permian and San Juan Basins. The Alliance was first created after the Carlsbad Caverns approached the oil and gas industry with the idea of collaboration for dark skies efforts to highlight the significance of this work for the economy, heritage to the lands, and future stewardship of them.
First Oil and Gas Sites in the World to be DarkSky Certified
Franklin Mountain Energy becomes first oil and gas sites in the world to be DarkSky Certified through DarkSky International. FME’s multi-step efforts to achieve the DarkSky Certification aims to maintain safety and security of these 24-hour operated locations while increasing visibility of the starry skies. FME now has two DarkSky retrofit sites, and one site is certified as a DarkSky new build. The retrofits resulted in a 60% reduction in lighting energy consumption while still meeting or exceeding safety standards for lighting and an estimated 99% reduction in skyglow, or light scattering in the night sky, as viewed from a distant location such as Carlsbad Caverns National Park.
More Information
To learn more about DarkSky Certification and ways to get involved, please visit: