What Will Humboldt County’s New ‘Dark Skies’ Ordinance Accomplish?

Humboldt County just took a big step towards protecting our night sky! In August, the Board of Supervisors approved the Inland Outdoor Lighting Ordinance, regulating outdoor lights to limit light pollution and light trespass. This is a significant win for the dark sky movement and will require new development on unincorporated land to use light fixtures and bulbs that reduce light pollution.

But this isn’t just about seeing more stars — light pollution disrupts the natural rhythms of wildlife and humans alike. Bright lights left on at night can alter the timing of bird migrations, interfere with seasonal flowering cycles, and affect our own sleep cycles.

Sylvia van Royen, GIS & Policy Analyst for Humboldt Waterkeeper, joins us to discuss the new lighting ordinance and how Humboldt residents can adapt their outdoor lighting to be friendlier to migrating birds and support the biological rhythms essential to our region’s biodiversity.

To learn more:

• Humboldt Waterkeeper Light Pollution Factsheet
• DarkSky Approved lighting fixtures
• DarkSky International’s explainer on What is Light Pollution? &Glossary of light-related terms.
• Light Pollution Webpage from the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals
• New World Atlas of Artificial Night Sky Brightness

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