Five years later, the city on the Buffalo River replaced its high-pressure sodium street lights – all 16 – with LEDs to reduce light pollution.
Bruce McMath blames this on “barnyard lights” – old-fashioned light bulbs and fixtures that emit light in all directions and blur the view of objects like planets and stars.
McMath is president of the Natural Sky Society of Arkansas. He worked with Gilbert to make some changes.
Gilbert is following in the footsteps of Buffalo National River, which became Arkansas’ first international dark-sky park in 2019 after two years of operation.
Gilbert is the only registered city in the national park, and it also makes sense to put up with the darkness.
Mitch Mortvedt, who served as Gilbert’s mayor for 15 years until 2020, said: “All possible delays are possible. I’m lucky that we got what we did.”
Mortvedt said Gilbert is also the smallest incorporated city in Arkansas. Established in the early 19th century, Gilbert’s population peaked at 116 in 1930, according to the Arkansas Encyclopedia.
The new lights Mortvedt is talking about are the Evolve ERLC series cobra heads, which really do resemble cobra heads. These are light emitting diodes, also known as LED lights.
Gilbert first installed electric street lights in the 1970s when Motwitt’s grandmother, Ethel Myers, installed them during her tenure as mayor.
Mortvedt said he got the idea to replace Gilbert’s streetlights from park ranger Cassandra Johannsen of Buffalo National River. They invited McMath to speak on the subject.
With better control over street lighting, residents and visitors will be able to see more clearly what our ancestors took for granted, like the Milky Way.
But it still exists in Gilbert. night. Elevated. Black background with thousands of sparkling stars.
“Earth has known day and night for almost 5 billion years,” says the website of the Arkansas Natural Sky Society https://darkskyarkansas.org. “The biology of almost all living things has evolved in this cycle, which makes it natural clock that governs such actions, like sleep, feeding, reproduction, migration, etc. Thus, the transformation of night into day has biological consequences for insects, animals, and humans.”
There is an argument that more lighting means less crime, but according to the International Dark Sky Association, this is not necessarily true.
“Glare from bright, unshielded light sources can actually reduce safety because it shines into our eyes and constricts our pupils,” according to https://bit.ly/3T4zzZr.
“Lighting engineers told us that, contrary to popular belief, too much light reduces visibility and safety, and that motion sensors don’t always turn on the lights and are the best option for safety in most situations,” McMath said.
Mortvedt said compliance with local power company Entergy Arkansas prevented Gilbert from switching to LED street lights.
“But we had to hand over the light to Entergy,” he said. “But they stuck with us. It also took five years, but they could refuse and stop opening the door.”
“Entergy offers a limited number of luminaires, but none of them are suitable from an environmental point of view,” McMath says. “Too blue and too bright.”
According to him, when replacing LED lamps, it is necessary to reduce lumens or units of light output.
In Gilbert’s case, he says, the old 100W and 150W street lights were replaced with 28W LED bulbs, bringing more light onto the road.
“The design of these lights is designed to light up the road in a rectangular pattern,” McMath said. “The old street lamps direct the light in a circle, so some of the light hits your bedroom, some into the tree, some into the wall.” sky..”
McMath said the band had a “feud” with Entergy until state senator Missy Irwin of R-Mountain View was asked to help.
“They had red lines they didn’t want to cross and Missy helped them find a way out,” McMath said. “Missy did what was necessary to find a solution.”
“I’m excited,” Irving said. “I think this is the coolest project. I think this project will lead to many people finding their way to Gilbert.”
This could happen on April 8, 2024, when a solar eclipse with a lunar shadow occurs, placing most of Arkansas in a total solar eclipse orbit.
“I tell you, the sky is amazing,” she said. “People who love this country love dark skies. They love to see God’s beautiful starry night.”
Owen helped Gilbert secure an $11,600 grant from the Buffalo River Conservation Commission that made the purchase of lanterns possible.
“I am thrilled to be their spokesperson and advocate for the community,” she said. “This is my job, my first job.”
“I love that they consider that one of their unique qualities,” Irving said. “They take advantage of it. They don’t try to be something they are not. They try to make the most of what they have, no matter how beautiful and unique it is.
“Everyone is looking at their phones and we have to start looking up. We must realize how tiny we are in the grand scheme of things. Maybe it reminds us of our humanity, where we come from, where we are. Sometimes we need to be put in our place. This will help you ground yourself.”
“We’ve worked with the City of Gilbert to develop rates for cities that have received grant funding to support the National Park Service’s dark sky program within the Buffalo National River boundary,” said Brandi Hinkle, spokesperson for Entergy Arkansas. work with the city on this issue, and Senator Irving has helped with those discussions.”
Gilbert doesn’t have an official Dark Sky name like Buffalo National River, at least not yet, like any other city in Arkansas.
“There are two possible roles for Gilbert and other regional communities,” McMath said. “Theoretically it could be a dark sky community, but that would require a lighting ordinance. It may also require additional street lighting controls. Another aspect is that it may be involved in the development of a dark sky sanctuary around the Buffalo National River. This is where communities and other landowners enter programs to promote responsible lighting practices to protect the dark sky park at the center of, in this case, the Buffalo National River. The latter is especially valuable here, because the river is very narrow and therefore fragile.”
While LED lights use less energy, Motwitt said Gilbert residents won’t save on their energy bills with the new street lights. Entergy still owns the lampposts, he said, and Gilbert’s taxpayers must pay tolls for unknown maintenance that may be required in the future.
Mortvedt was then only 5 years old. He visited his great-grandparents in Gilbert, who had moved there from Kansas City in 1948. Twenty years later, Gilbert’s grandparents moved in with him. Mortvedt moved there in 1981.
Mortvedt said his grandmother was elected Mayor of Gilbert in 1973, becoming the first female mayor in Searcy County.
The first Dark Sky festival in Arkansas will take place October 21-22 at the Tyler Bend Campground on the National River in Buffalo. Information is available at https://darkskyarkansas.org/dark-sky-festival.
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Post time: Oct-17-2022