The Alton Mine hearing for Salt Lake City is tomorrow: Salt Lake City, UT December 7th, 2011 Salt Lake City Library, 210 E 400 S 6:00pm-8:00pm I have a class in Sandy starting at 7pm, and I will not be there. The comment period ends in January, but the BLM website states that ``ends on January 6, 2012'' and comment may be submitted by email to UT_Kanab_Altoncoal at blm dot gov . I believe that comments will be accepted even if submitted reasonably after the closing date. Since political participation in Utah is best done in groups and not as individuals (in order to avoid the Utah well-known type of employment retaliatory conduct mentioned by others in an early post), perhaps this is something that the SLAS transition board should consider. That the Alton mine comment period expires on Jan. 6 should be a practical barrier. Q1 for discussion: Should the SLAS Board consider filing an organizational comment on the Alton Mine DEIS? I am not suggesting any action related to the Dec. 7 hearing. My suggestion goes to a written organizational comment on the Alton Mine DEIS. While SLAS is an apolitical association, should SLAS as an organization consider other dark sky activities? SLAS is apolitical in that the diversity of its conservative and liberal members results in a social consensus of avoiding political matters, and SLAS is organized as a 501(c)(3) corporation. While I am not a legal expert on 501(c)(3) matters, generally, I understand that although 501(c)(3) cannot make contributions or advocate for the election of any public official, a 501(c)(3) organization can influence and lobby regarding legislation, as long as a substantial portion of its income is not dedicated to lobbying. Q2 for discussion: Should SLAS as an organization pursue federal legislation establishing a framework to establish dark sky preserves on federal lands Utah and or Nevada? Should SLAS as an organization pursue federal legislation to establish a specific dark sky preserve(s) in Utah and or Nevada? In 2009, the International Dark Sky Association recognized Utah's Natural Bridges Monument as an International Dark Sky Reserve. http://data.nextrionet.com/site/idsa/PR_Natural_Bridges_2007.pdf That recognition and designation is private, and it is not legally enforceable. Although the Park Service has legal authority to preserve dark sky values within park boundaries, that authority is practically useless, unless dark sky lighting enforcement authority is recognized and implemented on surrounding federal BLM lands. Although the BLM arguably might have dark sky regulatory authority under the Federal Land Management and Policy Act of 1976, the Alton Coal Mine application demonstrates that whatever authority the BLM may have, will not be applied. In this context, a dark sky preserve means a special service district with the right to enforce lighting restrictions around and outside of a designated dark sky site, e.g. a Utah or Nevada state or federal park. There are many United States and international dark sky preserve zones, both private and public. Some of the public venues have lighting regulatory power. See list at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark-sky_preserve#cite_note-1 Many of the areas in the United States are associated with observatories. Some, like Michigan's State Lake Huron Recreation Area and Pennsylvania's Cherry Hills State Park, are associated with park lands. Internationally, Canada has designated its Jasper Canadian National Park as a dark sky preserve with lighting regulatory authority. But in the United States, public regulated dark sky preserves are principally associated with observatories. For example, in the United States, the MacDonald Observatory, Palomar Observatory, and Kitt Peak have legal authority to regulate lighting varying from 40 to 90 kilometers around each site. Another precedent for electro-magnetic radiation pollution control is the United States National Radio Quiet Zone, that was designated for defense purposes around the Green Banks Radio Observatory across state boundaries of Virgina and West Virgina. An alternative is for SLAS as an organization to take no action and to continue to rely on the efforts of preexisting dark sky advocacy groups like the IDA. Considering that the Alton Mine dark sky expert is an Arizona-based former president of the IDA, maybe SLAS should reconsider the group's default no action practice, and SLAS should reconsider if it should start taking care of Utah's own as an organization. Clear Skies - Canopus56