A Dark Sky Preserve is essentially a State Park for the starry skies, benefiting the ecology, the human stargazer, and the economy by permitting state lands to manage and market themselves as four-season astro-tourism destinations. The only conditions of a Dark Sky Preserve are that it has downward-facing lights (when possible, shielded and motion-detecting). The designation imposes no restriction on other activities within and around the Preserve.

Currently, Michigan's NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ACT, Act 451 of 1994, includes a single-sentence ban enacted through HB-5414 in 2012 against the establishment of these Preserves in the Upper Peninsula, without any explanation or justification. This is what we are seeking to overturn.

State lands in the Upper Peninsula should have the same right to protect and profit from their glorious night skies as those just south of the Mackinac Bridge, where the darkness quality is largely inferior. The Upper Peninsula must not be demoted to a second-class region with separate restrictions. To speak nothing of the ecological and economic benefits of Dark Sky Preserves, this government overreach must be remedied in the name of basic fairness.