Flagstaff marks Dark Sky

Flagstaff is marking 25 years as the world’s first International Dark Sky City during International Dark Sky Week, which runs from April 13 to April 20. (azfamily.com) The city says that designation dates to October 24, 2001, and grew out of local lighting rules meant to protect both night skies and everyday public safety. (flagstaff.az.gov) Flagstaff’s dark-sky effort started decades earlier, with the city’s first outdoor lighting ordinance in 1958 and broader city-county zoning limits on outdoor lighting adopted in 1989. (flagstaff.az.gov) Light pollution means human-made outdoor light where natural darkness should be, and DarkSky International says it includes glare, sky glow, light trespass, and clutter from excessive lighting. (darksky.org) DarkSky International says International Dark Sky Week is a global campaign built around the new moon, and the 2026 observance is focused on public events, local proclamations, and citizen-science reporting on night-sky brightness. (darksky.org) Flagstaff ties those policies to astronomy and tourism as well as conservation. The city says its long-running lighting rules helped support facilities including Lowell Observatory, the United States Naval Observatory Flagstaff Station, the Navy Prototype Optical Interferometer, and the United States Geological Survey Astrogeology Center. (flagstaff.az.gov) The campaign is spreading beyond northern Arizona this week. DarkSky International is urging communities to seek official proclamations, and local news outlets report that Santa Barbara County communities and Rapid City, South Dakota, have also recognized April 13 to April 20 as Dark Sky Week. (darksky.org) (coastalview.com) (kotatv.com) Flagstaff’s anniversary lands a few months after another milestone: DarkSky International named the city its 2025 Dark Sky Place of the Year, citing more than six decades of lighting policy that began in 1958. (flagstaff.az.gov) The week’s message is simple and local: brighter is not always better, and Flagstaff is using its 25th year under the designation to argue that cities can keep growing without giving up the stars. (azfamily.com)