PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 21, 2021
When you gaze up at night from the Maine North Woods, you see it like no other place on the East Coast. So little light comes off the seemingly endless expanse of forest and river that only the universe above is left to shine. The International Dark-Sky Association recognizes how special that is. Last year, the group named Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument an International Dark Sky Sanctuary. The Appalachian Mountain Club’s Maine Woods property, tens of thousands of acres between Moosehead Lake and Baxter State Park, this month became the first International Dark Sky Park in New England. Increased development has encroached on areas once mostly wild. The loss of dark night skies in these areas is a sign of light pollution but also the disruption of habitat that can have far-reaching consequences. The future of the entire region is a healthy North Woods – one that can be enjoyed in all its wild, natural splendor.