May 7, 2021 GMT
PRINEVILLE, Ore. (AP) Prineville Reservoir State Park has been certified as an International Dark Sky Park and is the first Oregon park to make the list of the places around the world with the least nighttime light pollution.
The certification recognizes the exceptional quality of the park’s night skies as well as efforts to install environmentally responsible lighting and educate the public about light pollution.
Prineville Reservoir joins only 174 locations worldwide to have followed the rigorous application program.
The park’s location in central Oregon, which is booming in population, makes it more critical as a place to enjoy star-gazing without light pollution, according to the Dark-Sky Association. To compete for the designation, park staff had to replace harsh outdoor lights with soft yellow and red lighting to reduce skyglow, the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department said in a statement.
Prineville Reservoir first Oregon park to get dark sky nod
May 7, 2021
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PRINEVILLE, Ore. (AP) Prineville Reservoir State Park has been certified as an International Dark Sky Park and is the first Oregon park to make the list of the places around the world with the least nighttime light pollution.
The certification recognizes the exceptional quality of the park’s night skies as well as efforts to install environmentally responsible lighting and educate the public about light pollution.
Prineville Reservoir joins only 174 locations worldwide to have followed the rigorous application program.
The park’s location in central Oregon, which is booming in population, makes it more critical as a place to enjoy star-gazing without light pollution, according to the Dark-Sky Association. To compete for the designation, park staff had to replace harsh outdoor lights with soft yellow and red lighting to reduce skyglow, the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department sa
Prineville Reservoir certified as Oregon’s first ‘Dark Sky Park’
Updated May 07, 11:31 AM;
Posted May 07, 10:27 AM
Prineville Reservoir State Park is Oregon s first official Dark Sky Park, a place where light pollution is minimal and stargazing is choice. (Dawn Davis/Oregon State Parks)
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Oregon is home to plenty of dark skies – ideal places for stargazing and staring out into the cosmos – but we only now have our first official Dark Sky Park.
The International Dark-Sky Association announced Friday that Prineville Reservoir State Park has been certified as an official Dark Sky Park, one of 101 such parks in the world, and the first in Oregon.
Similar action planned at Crescent Lake; new Lower Willamette rules set
SALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) The Oregon State Marine Board on Wednesday conditionally approved a boating facility grant for Westport in Clatsop County, accepted a rulemaking request for Crescent Lake, adopted rules for a slow no-wake zone on Prineville Reservoir, and approved new rules for the Lower Willamette River in Multnomah and Clackamas counties.
Clatsop County has been working with agency staff for more than a decade on improvements to the Westport boating facility and applied for a construction materials grant. The county is requesting to purchase precast concrete boat ramp planks, boarding docks, short term tie-up docks, a floating kayak dock, gangway, and precast concrete restroom. Increased lead time is needed to fabricate materials due to COVID restrictions and materials must be on-hand prior to the in-water work window.
This weekend will be a little warmer, so take advantage by heading out to areas east of Bend.
While snow typically doesnât fall as regularly or as deep as it does in the Cascades, it can be quite chilly on the exposed, arid desert landscapes especially if the wind picks up. But with the varied rock formations, sagebrush plateaus and stunning panoramas, itâs worth the cold and the drive out to these wonderfully desolate corners of Central Oregon.
But if you still want to hit the slopes, the sno-park conditions are also listed.
For a full list of conditions updated regularly, please visit centraloregonexplore.com