Special Notice – Sky Meadows & NOVAC Agreement

A message from President Terry Cabell:

Although I have been NOVAC’s President only since January of last year, I have for the past seven years (since 2009) been privileged to be the Site Coordinator for NOVAC at Sky Meadows State Park. During each of those years I worked with the park’s administration to craft an Observing Agreement. The purpose of the Agreement was to permit NOVAC members access to the park at night to observe or image. In exchange for that access, and in conjunction with our stated mission “to help others observe,” NOVAC also obligated its membership to support monthly public outreach events at the park.

This year NOVAC and the park administration were unable to reach an agreement. After a review of the park’s requirements for 2016 the NOVAC Board unanimously agreed it was not in the best interests of our organization to continue our formal association with Sky Meadows. The Board came to this decision only after careful consideration of the circumstances as the current situation unfolded. We continue to hope that the Sky Meadows administration will reconsider its requirements.

As a member of NOVAC you are entitled to know what changed recently that lead the Board to choose this course. From 2009 through 2014 I worked with the same Chief Ranger of Volunteers to ensure both our organizations cooperated successfully to provide NOVAC member observing privileges and outstanding public outreach events. This included a lot of give and take on both sides. In 2014, for example, Sky Meadows agreed to extend our observing periods monthly to coincide with those of C. M. Crockett Park.

Late in 2014 the chief ranger departed, and a new chief ranger joined the staff at Sky Meadows. When I met with him to discuss the observing agreement for 2015 he presented a number of changes the park’s leadership wished us to accept. These included such things as requiring our members wait until an hour after sunset to set up, and reducing our observing privileges to just ten days per month between April and November. I was able to get Sky Meadows to reconsider some of these proposals, but again in 2016 there were additional, new, proposed restrictions on access.

Under the provisions Sky Meadows wished to institute for 2016, NOVAC would have observing access for a maximum of eighty (80) days out of the year. Disregarding the weather, these observing days might be further curtailed by field conditions, maintenance, and special activities or events the park hosted in the observing area assigned to us. Additionally, members would no longer be able to drive onto the field, but instead would have to park in the cow pasture, and haul their equipment from there to set up. Eighty days is only 22% of a calendar year; less than half of the observing availability we have at our next most restrictive park, C. M. Crockett. Typical weather means that perhaps half these days might include reasonably clear skies.

These restrictions are despite the fact that NOVAC spends nearly $4,000.00 per year to support public outreach at Sky Meadows, more than any other observing site. By way of comparison, Star Gaze at C. M. Crockett Park costs us about $3,000.00 per year, and we receive 180 days of observing privileges in return. All of our other Northern Virginia observing locations are open unless stated otherwise, and are accessible at no charge.

The officers and Trustees believe that the limitations on observing at Sky Meadows are such that it would not be in our members’ best interests to support the park either financially or formally through outreach activities. Instead, we are actively seeking other locations where we can hold outreach events, including Astronomy Day 2017, while providing our members with observing privileges that are less restrictive.

We will still hold Astronomy Day this year at Sky Meadows because most of the advertising was already in place before we had a chance to evaluate and discuss Sky Meadows’ new observing requirements.

Personally, I am deeply saddened that a program in which I invested a substantial amount of time and effort over the past seven years is, at this point, ended. I still hope that Sky Meadows’ administration will reconsider their position, and re-open discussions with us. If they do, I will be happy to meet with them at the earliest opportunity.

In the meantime, if you have any questions, feel free to contact me at president@novac.com, and I will do my best to answer them.

Terry Cabell