Oregon’s first ‘Dark Sky Community’

The tiny town of Antelope is Oregon’s first Dark Sky Community
Updated: Dec. 08, 2024, 12:45 p.m. Originally Published: Dec. 06, 2024

The tiny town of Antelope – population 37 – has become the first city in Oregon to receive a “Dark Sky Community” certification from DarkSky International. Michael McKeag

​By  Samantha Swindler | The Oregonian/OregonLive

The tiny town of Antelope – population 37 – has become the first city in Oregon to receive a “Dark Sky Community” certification from DarkSky International.

Located in rural Wasco County in the north central part of the state, the town’s unofficial motto is, “Where you can see the Milky Way from Main Street.”

Antelope is the fifth location – but first city – in Oregon to receive a DarkSky International certification. The unincorporated community of Sunriver was the first, earning a “Development of Distinction” designation in 2020.

Prineville Reservoir was named a Dark Sky Park in 2021, and the Oregon Caves National Monument became a Dark Sky Park last month. Earlier this year, the Oregon Outback International Dark Sky Sanctuary was officially approved, spanning 2.5 million rural acres across southern Oregon.

The designations are given by DarkSky International, an organization dedicated to protecting the nighttime environment and preserving dark skies through environmentally responsible outdoor lighting.
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Antelope was incorporated in 1901, but Oregonians might know it best for the brief period in 1984-85 when members of the Rajneesh Movement moved to town and officially changed its name to Rajneesh.

By the end of 1985 – amid a failed assassination attempt and a mass poisoning attack in The Dalles – the religious movement fell apart, the Rajneesh followers left, and the town was renamed Antelope. The 2018 Netflix series “Wild Wild Country” brought the episode to an even wider audience.

“I really wanted to see Antelope be known for something better than that long past incident,” said Michael McKeag, a DarkSky Oregon co-founder who worked with the city on the designation. He attended an Antelope City Council meeting in August 2023 to talk about the process of becoming a Dark Sky city.

​“Knowing how small Antelope is, I was surprised at how full the room was,” he said. “After I finished my presentation, I figured, the response would be, ‘Well, that’s interesting. We’ll think about it.’ Instead, the response was, ‘How fast can we make it happen?’”

To get the certification, the city of Antelope adopted a new outdoor lighting ordinance, worked with Wasco Rural Electric to remove nonessential streetlights from town, and replaced the remaining streetlights with DarkSky approved fixtures that limit the amount of light pollution. Exposure to artificial nighttime lighting can disrupt wildlife and, studies show, negatively impact human health.

Over 16 months, the town recorded data on nighttime light levels and held outreach events to give residents free DarkSky-friendly outdoor light bulbs. The Rose City Astronomers club donated three telescopes to the community for “star parties” to get locals interested in the beauty of the night sky.
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Becoming a Dark Sky Community is a long-term commitment, McKeag said, and requires the city to file annual reports on their continuing use of appropriate lighting practices and public outreach.
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“You don’t just hang the plaque on the wall and call it done,” he said. “Each community or Dark Sky Place is taking on an ongoing obligation.”

 
Travel Oregon has encouraged rural communities like Antelope to go for the certification as a way to capture “astro-tourism.” McKeag is working with other cities, state parks and organizations interested in the DarkSky program.

He said Sisters is on track to become the next Oregon city to receive a certification.

“It’s our window into the rest of the universe we live in, and we’ve obscured that window through our use of outdoor lighting,” McKeag said. “A great majority of people on the planet can’t see the Milky Way, and maybe can only see the brightest stars from where they live. If they’re going to have an experience of a dark sky with the Milky Way and stars and planets plainly visible, they have to leave home and go someplace that still has dark skies, and those will be rural communities.”

​Samantha Swindler covers features for The Oregonian/OregonLive and Here is Oregon. Reach her at [email protected].

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