The Cottonwood Dark Sky Committee is seeking volunteers to join the committee who are interested in helping to educate the community about the requirements for and benefits of preserving a dark sky.
Cottonwood was designated a Dark Sky Community in 2019. Dark Sky sites promote conservation of the night sky as a natural resource as well as a culturally and historically important resource. Flagstaff was named the first International Dark Sky City in 2001 and over 200 other locations have since received a dark sky designation.
Cottonwood’s Dark Sky Committee, which is a municipal body, coordinates dark sky events, education and outreach efforts and annual reporting. They are currently looking for three to five volunteers to join the committee, which meets on a quarterly basis.
“Our biggest goal is education,” Cottonwood assistant city planner Clover Pinion said.
The committee typically hosts at least two events a year and has information booths at others in order to share with residents that Cottonwood is a designated dark sky community and discuss what that status requires. This year, they hosted a star party after a summer Old Town Music and the Market performance and a solar event in October in partnership with the Astronomers of the Verde Valley. The committee’s next planned event will be a viewing party in April 2024 to view the upcoming solar eclipse.
“The more events we can be at, the more people we’ll be able to reach and make aware of the fact that we are a dark sky community,” Pinion said.
The committee’s goal is to protect the night sky through conducting education and outreach and monitoring the night sky. Its volunteers take sky readings on a regular basis to measure how bright the night sky is, which is information that forms part of the annual report required for the city to keep its dark sky designation.
Although Cottonwood has regulations for outdoor lighting, such as shielding outdoor light fixtures, the committee does not play a role in enforcing these regulations and its efforts are limited to trying to urge voluntary compliance with the city’s lighting ordinance.
“The outdoor lighting ordinance for the city is to help preserve our night sky so you can see the stars and have our kids grow up with the stars,” said Pinion.
Pinion said that committee volunteers enjoy serving because they love living somewhere where they can see the stars at night. Some do nighttime photography and others enjoy observing the night sky through a telescope.
“It’s a great way to give back to the community,” Tricia Lewis, Cottonwood’s tourism and economic development director, said. “It helps preserve the quality of life we’re all accustomed to here. This is about education and preserving our environment.”
Interested applicants will need to be able to contribute one to two hours of their time per month. Applications are available at the Human Resources Office, located at 821 N. Main Street, by calling (928) 340-2713 or online at cottonwoodaz.gov/368/VolunteerOpportunities.
Completed applications must be submitted to the Human Resources Office no later than 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 5. The first meeting of the new year will be held in January 2024.
