The Wood River Valley’s dark sky reserve and the Treasure Valley’s higher-learning center will be partnering up, thanks to the nation’s aerospace agency.
The Boise State Physics Astronomy Outreach Program has been awarded a $1 million grant from NASA, which will bring outreach and education about the region to the community as well as a new STEM program to the university’s astronomy undergraduates. The Central Idaho Dark Sky Reserve includes Ketchum and Sun Valley, spanning 906,000 acres—the third largest dark sky reserve in the world after Mont-Megantic in Quebec and Aoraki Mackenzie in New Zealand.
Meanwhile, the Wood River Valley Wildlife Smart Communities Coalition is reminding people they need to look out even when they’re looking up. The coalition recently launched a new website with information about living safely with wildlife, like our local mountain lions and black bears. The new website can be found at wrvwildlifesmart.org.