We in Western Loudoun came here to these rolling open spaces because, among other things, we enjoy the dark night sky with its starlight, the heavenly map of constellations, that faint ribbon of smoky light called the Milky Way, and the flashing meteor trails disintegrated by our atmosphere.  We are closer to the nature that existed before humans cluttered this earth with disrespect for the gift of life found in nature.

We feel pangs at the ever-approaching ever-encroaching polluting clusters of artificial light that obscure the night sky.

Nor is this loss of the night merely an aesthetic preference for fainter light.  These blazing lights compromise wild life including birds, salamanders and frogs.  Endangered species of bird – the Cerulean Warbler and Henslow’s Sparrow, according to the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy – crash into these light towers. Continue reading →