Badlands National Park in South Dakota has reached the goal of getting the International Dark Sky Park certification.
Two months ago, the park was in the final stages of that certification process, and now that has arrived in late July. According to the Badlands National Park Conservancy, more than 7,500 stars are visible on any given night in the Badlands.
The Conservancy oversaw that proposal before the Dark Sky Association.
South Dakota Department of Tourism Secretary James Hagen in a press release said this is a great milestone for the state: "It reinforces what visitors have long known: South Dakota's wide-open spaces offer experiences that are becoming increasingly rare.”
Around 80 percent of Americans can no longer see the Milky Way, and nearly half of the U.S. has light-polluted night skies.
Badlanks Park Ranger Lydia Jones added, “We get a lot of folks that drive through on their way to Mount Rushmore or Yellowstone or other parks. But a person that's interested in astronomy, they're coming and they're spending one night or more. So that's more money that's going into the local economy."
