A starry night in Terra Nova National Park, a Dark Sky Preserve/Dave Newbury

David Saunders is an expert on the dark side of Terra Nova National Park. The man known unofficially as the park's "dark sky champion" celebrates the night skies, whether they're clear, full of stars or showing off the milky way.

Terra Nova is Newfoundland and Labrador's only Dark Sky Preserve, a designation it received three years ago from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) because it "has committed to protecting and preserving the night sky by eliminating light pollution in all forms." It has adjusted, retrofitted and eliminated light fixtures and turned countless visitors on to astronomy and other dark sky themes through education and programs.

The designation, while still new and not that widely known yet, brings in amateur stargazers and professional photographers while making life better for wildlife, plants and insects that rely on darkness to forage, breed and navigate. 

"Growing up in this rural area, I think we took the dark sky and the stars in the sky for granted," admits Saunders, who is oficially a product development oficer for visitor experiences.

Dark sky champion David Saunders in the Terra Nova forest/Parks Canada

He lives on the park's doorstep in Glovertown, population 2,000. Growing up here, he hunted, fished, cut firewood and took Terra Nova for granted. It wasn't until he started working for Parks Canada as a summer heritage interpretor at the end of university, started to see the park through the eyes of "people from the city and off island," and began boating in the park, that he "realized how important it is to protect and preserve this parcel of land."

To those who foolishly dismiss Terra Nova as a "drive-through park," Saunders points out there are icebergs, puffins, whales and nesting terns.

He got fine arts and education degrees from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NASCAD) and did a brief stint teaching art before Parks Canada hired him to deliver programs to schools about Terra Nova's endangered and elusive Newfoundland martens. After that was a lengthy stint as an interpreter.

Terra Nova is a traditional island wilderness park about three hours from the provincial capital of St. John's and just off the Trans-Canada Highway that draws people who want to camp, hike, canoe, swim, kayak, snowshoe and cross-country ski.

Established in 1957 as the province's first national park, it protects 402 square kilometres (154 square miles) of "extensive boreal forest and irregular rocky coastline." The ocean portion boasts arms, sounds, coves, sea arches and caves. Inland, in a forest dominated by black spruce, there are bogs, freshwater lakes and deposits of glacial till. Species at risk include the American marten (Newfoundland population), boreal felt lichen, little brown bats, red crossbills and rusty blackbirds. It's also home to black bears, lynx and moose, which need to be managed so they don't overbrowse on the park's forests.

About five years ago, the park was asked to consider applying for Dark Sky Preserve status and it fell on Saunders and co-worker Adie Hayes to take on the project. That involved getting a sky quality meter (SQM) to measure the darkness at various locations, do a complete inventory of external lights, create a lighting remediation plan, create a communications and education plan, figure out the best areas to view dark skies and learn to do astral photography (for that he credits RASC's Dave Newbury). One 57-page report later, Terra Nova earned its designation in February 2018 and Saunders has taken on an advistory position helping Parks Canada and RASC streamline the application process.

Parks Canada looks after the most Dark Sky Preserves of any jurisdiction in the world, says Saunders — 13 of Canada's 20 sites.

"It's not just a magical experience," Saunders points out. "It protects ecosystems and so it really fits the mandate of Parks Canada to protect our ecology." 

One rule is that Terra Nova can't have light within 30 metres (100 feet) of the ocean because it will draw puffins, storm petrels and fish to shore where they can become easy prey for predators and are pulled away from their natural breeding grounds.

The best time to view the night sky is September to November when it gets dark by 8 p.m. The challenge in summer, Saunders says, is that "it starts to get truly dark at 11 o'clock" and that's tough on families.

His favourite spot is Ochre Hill, a former fire-watch station with a decommissioned tower that now boasts 360-degree views from a viewing platform. Sandy Pond is the darkest area and offers nice reflections in the water, but "has a few trees so you're not going to see as much." Blue Hill is the park's highest point. The visitor centre is the most accessible viewing location and offers starry reflections in the water of Newman Sound.

The decommissioned tower at Ochre Hill/David Saunders/Parks Canada/Terra Nova National Park

For tips, Saunders says it's best to scope these locations during the day and invest in a red head lamp because white lights interfere with your ability to see in the dark. Spotting scopes are nice but you binoculars with birding scopes also work well. Digital cameras and tripods are essential for photos. "True stargazers" apparently prefer moonless nights, and this being foggy Newfoundland, check the forecast.

Terra Nova usually hosts an annual Night Sky Celebration, but so far they only happened in 2018 and 2019, with 2020 cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and 2021 likely headed to becoming a virtual event on August 23 and 24. The park can set visitors up with "night sky kits" with loaner binoculars and a star finder and moon gazer's guide.

"We were only two years into it and then COVID happened," says Saunders. "We're itching to get back. We also don't have enough signage in the park yet to promote and advertise that it's a Dark Sky Preserve."

For now, he recommends sleeping in one of the park's five teardrop-shaped, two-level Ôasis units, "so you can lie in your bed and see the stars."