Years of work for a Dark Sky

Do you want to feel awe?

Stand in an open field on a cloudless, moonless night, alone or with friends. Maybe a sweetheart. Look up into a deep, dark black sky filled with an infinity of stars. More stars than you can count. More than you can imagine.

Now let your thoughts soar outward, into the universe. You’ll feel it. Awe. It’s an intense feeling – humbling, thrilling, even a bit scary.

Unfortunately, it is an increasingly rare feeling. A century ago, most people still lived under a night sky packed with stars, the Milky Way like flowing milk. Today, the majority of Americans cannot even see stars from where they live. Studies tell us 80% cannot see enough stars to distinguish the Milky Way, our own vast, star-dense galaxy;100 billion stars, surrounding us but most blocked from our sight by light pollution.

Wimberley Valley residents are fortunate. We can still see the stars – not as many and not as well as we’d like, but certainly more than many see. For us a brilliant night sky is a fundamental part of our natural beauty, like our streams and hills and trees and wildlife. The challenge we face is to keep it that way.

In 2014, Dripping Springs became the first Texas city designated a Dark Sky Community by the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA, www.darksky.org ). That inspired Cathy Moreman, then Executive Director of the Wimberley Valley Chamber of Commerce.

“I thought this is an opportunity for Wimberley to benefit on many levels,” Moreman recalls. “I wanted to live in a place where you can look up and see the stars. If Dripping Springs could do it, Wimberley certainly could.”

After discussions with then Wimberley City Council Member Pam Showalter, Moreman took a proposal to the Council, which was promptly approved. Wimberley already had many of the needed lighting ordinances, and could incorporate the rest. The Woodcreek Council was also receptive. Moreman and Showalter recruited volunteers and the Wimberley Valley Dark Sky Committee was formed in 2016.

It meant hard work and the help of many individuals, such as Cindy Cassidy who was instrumental in the Dripping Springs designation, and organizations, including the Woodcreek and Wimberley City Councils, the Wimberley Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Hill Country Alliance (HCA), but Wimberley Valley got the designation three years ago this month, June 2018.

(Come help us celebrate that anniversary by cheering the Dark Sky entry in the Wimberley Independence Day Parade, 10 a.m. July 5th, on FM 2325 and RR 12.)

A ton of work went into all the requirements. Much of that fell to the committee’s second chairperson, Shannon du Plessis, who wrote most of the 160-page application.

“The toughest challenge was going to all the public properties in Wimberley and Woodcreek to determine whether the lights on the city owned properties comply with our own lighting requirements,” du Plessis recalls. “Are they shielded, are they right on the Kelvin scale…” She knew it was appreciated when WVDSC was made Grand Marshall of that year’s July 4th parade. “People were so supportive,” she says. “We still get people saying, ‘Oh thank you for what you’re doing’.”

WVDSC members are often asked why the Wimberley Valley qualifies. We’re certainly darker than Austin or San Marcos, but it’s a lot darker in west Texas. The short explanation: it’s not how dark you are, but how hard you are trying to be dark. The IDA website www.darksky.org puts it thus: “An IDA International Dark Sky Community … has shown exceptional dedication to the preservation of the night sky through the implementation and enforcement of a quality outdoor lighting ordinance, dark sky education and citizen support of dark skies …”

Not only are many Valley people enthusiastic, so are the visitors who power the local economy, says current Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Michaelanne Hurst.

“People come to the Hill Country to experience the Dark Skies. They are asking us when there are going to be Star Parties. (The next will be in October at Blue Hole Park.) The (IDA designation) has helped this community bring people in and helped us recognize what light pollution does to diminish our dark nights.”

As Dripping Springs encouraged the Wimberley Valley, so our dark status has moved others along the same path.

“Absolutely”, says Cliff Kaplan of the HCA Night Sky team. “Following in the footsteps of the Wimberley Valley Dark Sky Committee, we are seeing local groups form throughout the Hill Country, mostly in the county level. There are the Blanco County and Hays County Friends of the Night Sky. We’ve also helped form Friends of the Night Sky for Travis, Comal, Kerr, Kendall and Bandera counties, and we are excited about helping others form this year.”

Lakewood Village, near Denton, got the community designation in 2019, followed by Fredericksburg in 2020. In all, Texas now has 15 IDA Dark Sky Places, including communities, parks, reserves and developments.

But anyone who has driven from Wimberley into Austin knows Texas’ fantastic growth is bringing many more lights. A lot will not be shielded.

“It’s a mixed bag,” Kaplan says, but he notes some promising signs. “Often developments will skip streetlights altogether, which is encouraging. People moving to the Hill Country are looking for country living; that does not mean street lights. Some developments even adopt language into their HOA agreement for outdoor lighting in accordance with Dark Sky standards.

“HCA has a Night Sky Friendly Neighborhood program. Any HOA or POA that adopts it into their agreements we will recognize as a Night Sky Friendly Neighborhood. That lets other communities know this is a neighborhood that values Night Skies.

Growth is a real future challenge for the Valley and for the WVDSC says current Chair Greg Webb. “So far, we have not had so much of the creep of light coming from Austin and San Marcos, but in 10 years we are going to be the south end of Austin. It is going to be tough unless other communities come out in support of Dark Skies. There have been inquiries from Canyon Lake and Kyle and Buda. There’s a chance to do it; we are trying to do it here as long as we can.”

The WVDSC works on education and awareness and promotes a Night Sky Friendly Business Program which is through the Chamber of Commerce and sponsored by the Hill Country Alliance. That has already awarded many local businesses for switching to Dark sky lighting.

Success also depends on the active support of Wimberley Valley citizens. Become aware of Dark Sky appropriate lighting, and use it in your homes and businesses, and encourage it in places you visit. Together, we can keep the Wimberley Valley Night Sky dark for years to come.