Bar Harbor votes to take back its night.

COLUMN: IN OUR OPINION; EDITORIAL FOOTNOTE

For years, astronomers and other watchers of the skies have been lobbying authorities and the public to curb light pollution and restore the Milky Way to its traditional role as inspirational keeper of the night. To their credit, folks in Bar Harbor, Maine, are taking action.

In most urban and many suburban areas across our country, residential and commercial sprawl has made it difficult to see all but the brightest planets and stars on any given night. Many urban children have never appreciated the wonder of the Milky Way dominating a swath of the sky on a dark and quiet night in the countryside.

To preserve their piece of the natural sky, voters in Bar Harbor passed an ordinance requiring any new lighting of 100 watts or more to be equipped with a shield that directs the light downward. A few residents complained about what they saw as an attempt to mandate neighborliness, but the ordinance won the support of 80 percent of voters. Nighttime lighting plays an important role in safety and security, of course, but such benefits can be achieved without a profligate projection of photons to the skies.

Bar Harbor, like much of the state dependent on tourism dollars, has chosen wisely in preserving an element of its charm - dark nights sparkling with stars that inspire a sense of wonder in young and old alike.