Looking up at the night sky in northern and rural Maine, it is a sight to behold, almost unique in today’s lit-up world. The Rangeley region is one of the last areas in the Northeast largely untouched by light pollution.

It is also a draw for many tourists and stargazers who come to the region for the clear view of the night sky.

A new group called Friends of the Western Maine Dark Sky hopes that by limiting the amount of light pollution, those views will be preserved for generations to come.

The group gathered at the Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust on March 3 to talk about ways to educate the community on the importance of dark skies to the region.

One of their primary efforts is to try to designate Rangeley as an official Dark Sky community.

The designation will require a few steps. First, an application will be submitted to DarkSky International expressing an interest. Then, the town of Rangeley will need to adopt a new lighting ordinance at the June town meeting.

A new state law taking effect in October will require publicly funded outdoor lighting across the state to be dimmed at night to protect wildlife and dark skies. This includes using warm, yellow-toned bulbs, dimming or turning off nonessential lights and shielding lights so they don’t shine upward into the sky.

The town ordinance would create guidelines similar to the state laws on the kinds of lights used in town, as well as restrict some signs, such as LED message boards. Existing boards would be allowed to remain in place.

“The fact that the existing signage is grandfathered in perhaps bodes well for getting an approval of the town meeting,” said Linda Dexter, Dark Sky community certification coordinator at the Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust, who is leading the effort. “It’s going to impact businesses in the town … right out of the gate, folks will tend to not vote for it.”

Even if an ordinance passes, change would likely be slow. Most of the group’s efforts will be on community education, such as informing seasonal residents to turn off the lights at their camps while they are gone for the winter. Also, the application may not be approved for up to six months after it is submitted, Dexter said.