Canada's Newest Dark Sky Preserve

Grasslands National Park Dark Sky Preserve

We've been pretty busy over the last 6 months working with Grasslands National Park to provide guidance for them to make appropriate operating changes to qualify for dark-sky preserve status. On Friday, Oct. 2, at the GNP Office in Val Marie, 100km S of Swift Current, Saskatchewan, we signed on the dotted line. Grasslands becomes the 11th DSP in Canada, the darkest and largest DSP in Canada and possibly the largest in the world. It is currently 57,100 hectares (57.1 sqare km) in size and will grow over time to 92,100 hectares. Cypress Hills DSP, which straddles the Saskatchewan/Alberta border 200 kilometres to the west, held the size record until Friday morning, at 39,600 hectares.

Very importantly, the event was combined with other park announcements, including a Species at Risk program where the Black-footed Ferret was reintroduced to the park after a 70-year absence. Parks Canada provides a press release and 3 backgrounders for October 2nd; the news release for **combined** species/dark skies and backgrounders: one for the ferrets, one for dark-skies, another for future park growth. It is exceptionally significant that dark skies and the health of flora and fauna were combined, and especially significant that the Federal Minister of the Environment (Jim Prentice) level that dark-skies is seen as significant part of the environment and the effects of a non-dark sky indeed causes problems with nocturnal animals. It is so important that the fight against light pollution is tied to the environment and not only to astronomers' skies.

I presided over the signing (the RASC signature was by David Lane, National President of the RASC) and the Park signers were Director General for Parks, Bill Fisher, and GNP Superintendent Katherine Patterson. Mr. Fisher was also a signer to the Beaver Hills DSP (which includes Elk Island NP & Cooking Lakes Provincial Recreation Areas near Edmonton, Alberta). Cheryl Penny was also at the celebration. She is past-GNP Superintendent (now at Riding Mountain NP) and was a signer at the Cypress Hills DSP, as Ft. Walsh, within the Cypress Hills, is a National Historic Site.

It is also significant that several of the biologists and naturalists involved in the ferret release already were aware of the work of FLAP, the IDA, US National Parks DSP program and general light pollution issues. This means we are making sufficient noise in that we are being heard at least by the naturalist crowd. Over 400 people, including 3 bus loads of school children, attended the festivities and ferret release.

See for the news releases:
http://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/cp-nr/index_e.asp

or the French versions:
www.pc.gc.ca/apps/cp-nr/index_f.asp

and on the National RASC webpage:
www.rasc.ca/news/article_417.shtml

Richard Huziak
Saskatoon Centre, RASC
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada