Having attained international recognition, what’s on the celestial horizon for West Virginia’s newest stars on the dark sky park tourism circuit this fall? Well, this party’s just getting started! It’s time to get ready to celebrate unlike anywhere else in the world or the universe for that matter! Receiving national and international attention are Watoga …
Reprinted with permission from Highland Outdoors magazine (www.highland-outdoors.com), Fall 2021 edition, p. 9. Stargazers, rejoice! Watoga State Park is on its way to becoming an officially recognized Dark Sky Park. Watoga has long been known as one of the darkest and most light-pollution-free areas in Central Appalachia, providing spectacular views of clear night skies. At …
Watoga dark sky good for bats. Cindy Sandeno, District Ranger of the Marlinton/White Sulphur Springs Ranger District, visited Watoga State Park this past Saturday evening to teach an assembled group of campers, park employees and other interested parties why we need bats, and why they now need us. Sandeno discussed light pollution and how bats …
First Energy contributes to Watoga Dark Sky Project. On July 28th, 2020 Watoga State Park Foundation received a $5000 grant from First Energy for the Dark Sky Project to cover the cost of light fixture replacements in the park. What can you do to reduce your impact on light pollution? Install fully shielded downlight fixtures …
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Synchronous Fireflies This story, like most, has a backstory. What follows is how something extraordinary was recently discovered in Watoga State Park. A little over a year ago Mack Frantz, a zoologist with West Virginia Department of Natural Resources, was informed by a retired biologist from the same agency that she had observed a rare …
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