Welcome to Dark Sky Country

Prineville Reservoir State Park in Oregon on July 16, 2023. (All photos by Grant Tandy for The Free Press)
For eighty percent of the world’s population, artificial light pollutes the night sky. In Oregon, a group of activists is busy restoring the view.
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The baby blue evening sky was still bright with translucent white clouds when people began showing up to see the stars.
We were on the shore of the Prineville Reservoir in central Oregon, a lovely spot at 3,257 feet surrounded by sagebrush and juniper hills that form a perfect bowl to block out the light from nearby Bend (population 107,305).
“We don’t s…
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