Dark Sky Lighting Guide

| Updated Jul 14, 2026

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 Lighting Guidance Document

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. Each working location has its own requirements, but the practices are scalable, cost-efficient options for new builds and retrofits.

Dark for the Park — Lighting Guidance

Download the Alliance’s guidance document (PDF)

The guide includes suggestions on:

Planning

Shielding

Color

Intensity

Why Dark Skies Matter

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 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.

A starry night sky above a downward-lit oil and gas production site — Recommended lighting practices direct light down onto the work surface — keeping sites safe while preserving the night sky.

First Oil and Gas Sites in the World to Be DarkSky Certified

Franklin Mountain Energy’s sites became the 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 aim 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.

DarkSky Certified sites — two retrofits and one new build, a world first for oil and gas

60%

Reduction in lighting energy consumption from the retrofits, while meeting or exceeding safety standards

~99%

Estimated reduction in skyglow as viewed from Carlsbad Caverns National Park