Protecting the Night

Humboldt’s new lighting ordinance shines a light on dark sky preservation

Mark Wilson’s home in McKinleyville was surrounded by farm fields in the ‘90s, making his backyard a prime spot for stargazing. By taking a few steps out of his house, he could bear witness to the depths of the night sky and all its planets and constellations. Over the years, the area developed and fields were replaced by homes and businesses. The light from these buildings overwhelmed the view of the stars and only left larger celestial sights. Wilson says he hasn’t gone stargazing in his backyard in years.

“Some of the light’s coming from light sources nearby, but it’s enough to make it not worth my time to go out there with my binoculars,” he says.

As vice president of Astronomers of Humboldt, Wilson represented one of several groups supporting the lighting regulations for unincorporated portions of the county approved by the board of supervisors in a 3-2 vote on Aug. 19.

Now covering inland areas, the guidelines were influenced by recommendations from DarkSky International, an advocacy group dedicated to combating light pollution. An accompanying coastal version still needs approval from the California Coastal Commission to go into effect.

Under the dark sky ordinance, new exterior lights in residential areas can be a maximum of 1100 lumens — a brightness measure equivalent to a 75-watt bulb — and 3200 lumens in commercial zones. It also adds restrictions on light spillage onto other properties and motion sensor lights.

“I think it’s remarkable that we didn’t already have a lighting ordinance,” said Fourth District Supervisor Natalie Arroyo, who voted in favor of the ordinance. “It’s very commonplace for people to have a lighting ordinance and to have rules about lighting, so I’m frankly surprised that anyone voted against it. But I think we’re coming up to speed with our peers in other counties by having a lighting ordinance.”

Lighting ordinances are generally passed to protect the health of wildlife and residents, as well as to preserve views of the night sky and prevent the waste of energy.

Light pollution’s impact on wildlife

Humboldt County is on a major migratory path called the Pacific Flyway, which millions of birds use to fly between North America and South America each year. Matthew Johnson, a Cal Poly Humboldt professor who specializes in ornithology, says since birds primarily use the stars as a directional guide, light pollution can cause disorientation that alters their migration patterns, resulting in them not making it to their destination. Spotlights, in particular, can confuse birds to the point where they fly in circles until they die from exhaustion.

“They are attracted to lights, and so they’re using celestial cues,” Johnson said. “In the biggest, broadest sense, the lights are triggering some of those behavioral responses. I think in the case of the spotlights, they kind of get in that tunnel of light and going out of it just looks like the wrong way to go.”

Sylvia van Royen, Humboldt Waterkeeper’s GIS and policy analyst, created a map on the spread of light pollution in Humboldt County and documented that Eureka’s reaches 24 miles off the coast from its brightest point. Each population area in the region creates its own cascading emanations, she says, resulting in the fragmentation of natural environments — including national forests — that can confuse wildlife.

“They kind of make this connected blob of sky glows,” van Royen said. “If you think about it, if you were a bird and you were trying to fly through the dark areas, now those are disconnected from each other. And they have to fly through this, but then, when they fly through the brighter light, they might get disoriented.”

And it’s not just birds. From sea turtles and bats to insects and plants, light pollution has the potential to negatively affect a vast array of flora and fauna that rely on light — or the lack of it — for physiological and directional cues.

“You don’t think about it when you go to the beach in the evening and there’s lights on the street nearby, but those lights are spilling onto the water,” van Royen said. “It changes the behaviors of aquatic animals and can really affect their survival rates.”

Shining a light on human well-being

Van Royen has been combing through studies on light pollution to help educate local residents on the importance of regulating the brightness and temperature of lighting, with Humboldt Waterkeeper collaborating with DarkSky International and area businesses to get the word out about their findings.

“Because it can disrupt our circadian rhythms, it kind of throws off our natural cycles of when we’re eating and sleeping,” van Royen said. “And that can have an effect on our health by contributing to insomnia, depression, obesity, we can lose our night vision.”

When a person is looking at a bright light, she says, it is more difficult to see things outside of the light’s range. In situations like construction work happening at night, this can have dangerous consequences, van Royen says, pointing to case studies where DarkSky International collaborated with projects around the world to mitigate the effects.

“There was some industry happening in the Amazon, and they worked with … the owner of that area, which is, like really industrialized, paved but in the middle of the forest, and it was super bright, like you could see it from the next town over,” van Royen says. “So, they actually worked with the folks that owned and operated that site to implement all of their recommendations, and they started having less accidents on site, like workers running into each other with forklifts.”

There’s also just the simple benefit of looking at the stars.

Wilson, having participated in and hosted many astronomy events, says he feels more connected to history through viewing the night sky. Every community has its own interpretation and stories behind each constellation, he says, noting we can now learn even more about those with modern technology.

“Recently, I was in France to see the cave paintings from the Ice Age and at the end of the Ice Age,” Wilson said. “And I think about those people, they had pretty dark skies. That’s why they like to go back in those caves. But I just imagine this, the sight they had in looking at the night sky. It had to be just awe-inspiring.”

When it comes to protecting wildlife, Johnson recommends shielding brighter bulbs to keep outside lights projecting onto the ground and limiting lighting in taller buildings to prevent possible bird collisions. He also hopes that as people start to adjust their lighting, they will see it benefits them as much as the birds living in or just passing through Humboldt.

“Like any change, a lot of times there’s some resistance or an issue against it. But then once you try, you think, ‘Oh, not only is this just OK, maybe it’s actually better.’”

Matthew Johnson, Cal Poly Humboldt professor

“If their electricity bill goes down a little bit, or they realize, ‘Oh, there wasn’t the crime risk we thought there was,’ or ‘maybe this even reduced the crime risk,’” Johnson says. “Like any change, a lot of times there’s some resistance or an issue against it. But then once you try, you think, ‘Oh, not only is this just OK, maybe it’s actually better.’”

Wilson hopes that the new ordinance will be the start of a more visually dynamic night sky for the county to enjoy and learn more about.

“It would be nice if I could go back into my backyard and spend more time at night, personally,” Wilson said. “But I think overall, for the Humboldt community, it’ll make going out at night a little more pleasant.”

Griffin Mancuso (he/him) is a freelance journalist based in Eureka. He is passionate about uplifting the stories of local communities and wildlife education and preservation. More of his work can be found at griffinmancuso.wordpress.com.

This article appears in Protecting the Night.