North Dakota lawmakers will consider a resolution Thursday that would establish a statewide Dark Sky Week to combat light pollution and protect migrating birds. Senate Concurrent Resolution 4004, which would designate April 21-28 as Dark Sky Week, encourages residents to participate by limiting or turning off nonessential lighting. 

The resolution introduced by Sen. Tim Mathern, D-Fargo, Sen. Dean Rummel, R-Dickinson, Rep. Austin Foss, D-Fargo, Rep. Karla Hanson, D-Fargo, and Rep. Eric Murphy, R-Grand Forks, aims to protect a critical and disappearing natural resource: darkness. 

Most Americans – including the majority of North Dakotans – live under light-polluted skies. Affecting more than just the visibility of the night sky, it can alter the behavior of certain plants and nocturnal animals. 

“Birds use the cues of the sun and the earth’s vibrational field to navigate at nighttime and they get very disoriented by light pollution,” said Amanda Booher, Audubon Great Plains communications manager. 

North Dakota is centrally located within a major migratory pathway for birds. Each spring and fall, millions fly over the state, moving between their nesting and wintering grounds. During peak migration in mid-April, more than 35,000 birds may travel through North Dakota in a single night, Booher said. North Dakota is a critical stop for sandhill cranes, nuthatches, the American robin and waterfowl species like mallards. 

The resolution encourages households and property owners to protect migrating birds by closing curtains, facing outdoor lights downwards and installing motion sensor lighting or light covers. These practices may also lower household energy costs, Mathern told the North Dakota Monitor. 

Mathern hopes this resolution encourages political subdivisions to factor light pollution and potential impacts to bird migration in future decision-making. 

“(Audubon Great Plains) really appreciates this legislation being on the table and the discussion to build awareness,” Booher said. 

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a public hearing on the resolution at 10 a.m. Thursday in the Peace Garden Room of the Capitol. Written testimony can be submitted until 8 a.m. on Thursday.