The Buffalo National River is an Arkansas spectacle, bringing in more than one and a half million visitors a year.
KARK Little Rock reports its traditional attractions have made it a destination for generations, but Marion County resident Allan Staib has his sites set on something else the area has to offer.
Staib says if you want to see deep sky objects, you’ve got to be where there’s a good black sky.
The amateur astronomer has expert-level curiosity and equipment he loves to share at the Tyler Bend Pavilion.
He says he’s hoping to get some other kid, some other 10-year-old today like he was 60 years ago, interested in astronomy. It’s a spark that never left him.
The night he set up a demonstration was shaping up to be one of the best to put the telescopes to work.
As the sun set, the barrier of lights blocking much of the world from experiencing the universe was lifted. Half the park is revealed after dark.
And it is only getting darker as the Buffalo is applying to be an International Dark Sky Park.
If awarded, it will be the only one in Arkansas.
Casey Johannsen, Buffalo River park ranger, says it’s not about taking light completely out of the park. It’s about putting the right amount of light where it’s needed and when it’s needed.
In the last two years, Johannsen has been working to bring the park into compliance.
They’ve added educational programming, volunteer astronomers and switched all lighting to be dimmer and amber colored.
He says people think of the Buffalo National River as a park and wonder how many light fixtures can they really have? Well, they would be surprised.
Bruce McMath approached the Buffalo about becoming a dark park in 2016.
McMath says the Natural State ought to have natural skies, somewhere.
As the chairman of the Arkansas Natural Sky Association, he educates people on the harmful effects of blue light and light pollution both on the environment and human health.
He says a 100-watt bulb left on all night for a year produces almost a half a ton of carbon dioxide.
With 135 miles of river to cover, the subtle changes open dramatic views unseen in cities, like the rings of the Milky Way galaxy and the International Space Station barreling across the night sky.
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