Tolkkinen: We’re ruining one of the best and most endangered things about country life — a dark sky at night

CLITHERALL, MINN. - The outdoor security light in our farmyard shone all night.

We couldn’t turn it off. It belonged to the power company and there was no switch. Atop a power pole, it automatically flicked on at dusk and off at dawn. It glowed through snowstorms and rain, through bird migrations and meteor showers. It shone in our windows and on our old garage and lit the path to the barn.

It drove me nuts.

We had just moved to our Otter Tail County farm from Bemidji, and this all-night light interfered with one of the best — and most endangered — things about country life: a dark sky at night.

Much has been said about the importance of a dark night sky, which has become vanishingly rare around the globe. Light pollution blots out the Milky Way for eight out of 10 Americans, according to the National Park Service. It interferes with the predator-prey relationship of wildlife. It can lead migrating birds astray and cause them to crash into buildings.

But it feels like people aren’t listening. For all we rural Minnesotans pride ourselves on being soooo different from the Twin Cities, I think we secretly want to be just like them. First light pollution. Then sidewalks and paved roads and a latte place on every corner

My husband’s great-grandparents, who once lived in our farmhouse, had an outdoor light beginning in the 1950s, when they milked cows. That one had a switch so they only used it as needed. Somewhere along the way, the power company swapped it out for the all-night variety. Our farm place became part of the problem.

It’s been 15 years since we moved to our farm, and 15 years since we asked the power company to disconnect the security light. They were a little baffled. They didn’t get many, if any, requests like ours. Most people want outdoor lighting, the more, the better. They want to be able to see; moving through the dark can be scary. There might be saber-toothed tigers waiting to drag you off.

Once the security light was gone, darkness descended on our little farm like a big, cool drink on a hot night. We could see the stars and the planets. One time my young nieces and nephews visited on a night you could see four planets at once. We stood at the edge of the pasture, looking up into the night sky as I pointed them out. The night sky can boggle your mind when you’re their age. Does the universe ever stop? Is there a wall? How can something go on and on?

I don’t think many of us fully appreciate what we have here in rural Minnesota. So many people light up their boat docks, their farms, their houses. One farmer told me he believes his security light keeps predators away from his cattle herd. (Although we also had cattle, and predators never bothered them even without a light.)

Last year, someone put a security light on a grain bin that was off by itself, nowhere near a home. Did they ever even use it? Why not put up a motion detector light instead?

Every now and then, my rural neighbors plead with others to tone down the lighting. Five years ago, a short-lived group called Starry Skies Otter Tail County formed, asking people to turn off outside lights during the August meteor shower. Last week, someone begged the Battle Lake Happenings Facebook group to keep lights low.

“Oh, how I wish people would turn off their dock lights, their porch lights, their garden lights, their yard lights,” someone else replied. “I love seeing the night sky!”

Power companies have taken some steps to reduce light pollution. In populated areas, Otter Tail Power has replaced sodium vapor street lights with focused LED beams. Lake Region Electric Cooperative, which powers our house, now only offers LED options for security lights, and customers can ask for shields to better direct the beam, a spokesman told me.

Lake Region is also considering installing motion activated lights or timed lights on its own property.

“We will take cautious and considerate steps forward to do our part in reducing light pollution,“ the spokesman said. ”However, we cannot make these changes alone."

These are good steps. But I’d like to see power companies wage a major campaign against light pollution, especially in rural areas. Instead of offering light shields upon request, why not strongly recommend them? And for that matter, why not encourage people to install lighting that comes on only when they need it?

We here in rural Minnesota need to stop battling the dark. It’s not something to fear. There are no bogeymen hiding out there waiting to pounce. The dark is normal. Natural. Beautiful. People drive a long way to see what we have.

Let’s not become urbanized.

Let’s shut off our lights.

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