8181-R1_LSLA_2022_WinterNewsletter_Web

Starlight - Moonlight - Milky Way---Where are you? As one looks across the lake in late evening, it is sometimes hard to gaze into the starlit or moonlit sky without first seeing the bright glares on our shoreline. We are impacted by the light dome created by Windham’s well-lit artificial light areas. As artificial light increases around the lake, the smaller stars are harder to view. Imagine lying on the porch to go to sleep, only to find that high intensity light across the lake is reflecting off the water and bouncing into your eyes. It happens. interfere with birds’ migration and disrupt insect food webs.” Let’s try to be light friendly and utilize the newer technology of lights that do not cause glare and point the lights so they are not intrusive to your abutting neighbors, those who live on islands or those across the lake. Turn off lights when going to bed to mitigate impact to the view of the night sky and prevent disruption to the habitat of our nocturnal creatures who prefer the dark. The good news is – there are simple changes we can make to reduce our impact on the night. The general principles are: • Light only what needs to be lit

Yard lights left on permanently won’t deter animals. Lights on a motion detector can spook animals if that is the purpose of leaving them on. Prolonged exposure to bright lights has the potential to cause damage to the eyes of owls by saturating their photoreceptor cells. “According to the International Dark Sky Association (IDA), artificial light at night has harmful, sometimes deadly, effects on wildlife. Nocturnal animals whose habits have evolved around cycles of light and dark for millennia are particularly affected by our brightly lit nights. Prey that uses night as cover are more vulnerable to capture. Nighttime glare can disrupt wetland frogs and toads that emit mating calls only at night, reducing reproduction. Bright lights also

• Provide light only when it is needed • Make lights no brighter than necessary • Choose ‘warmer’ lamps for outdoors (<3,000 k) • Position lights so light illuminates downward only These principles argue for motion-activated outdoor lights of less than 3000 k. It’s now possible to purchase outdoor flood lights with motion sensors built into the light, so you don’t need to buy a new fixture to take advantage of motion-sensing technology. Written on behalf and per the request of your lake neighbors- Pam Wilkinson

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