Perhaps this would be something we could do with other Astronomy Clubs in Arizona and Colorado. There has been a bit of discussion that SLAS does too many Star Parties for the club to support. The SLAS board needs to carefully consider scheduling and does take members suggestions, it is hard to accommodate everyone. The Star Party at the South Rim is the primary public event for those Astronomy Clubs. Nationwide few do monthly Star Parties. Certainly anyone working with park service does not have to include SLAS, meaning it does not have to be a SLAS event for club members to support. Problems arise when we try to schedule multiple National Park venues. New Moon has usually been reserved for SLAS member events, Bryce has become a exception although it does allow members time without the public for serious observing. Support of the rangers is important and with a few exceptions SLAS has a good relationship with them. I suspect as gas prices continue to rise, Star Parties that are 300 miles away will be less popular. How many campsites does Natural Bridges have? As I recall it is under 30. We have helped support the North Rim Star Party but not for many years. Seems Bryce has taken its place as far as club support. They have a good place for speakers, but the location for the Star Party is poor. A lot of trees and it was held at the patio of the visitors center, many lights remained on for safety. You also could not utilize your vehicle for power. They hold the South Rim Party at Desert View which is a lot better, I thought that was organized by one of the Phoenix clubs and supported by many Orange County Astronomical Society members, I am sure they would welcome SLAS members. I think they hold it about the same time we do Bryce though. --- robtaylor3661@comcast.net wrote: From: "Robert Taylor" <robtaylor3661@comcast.net> To: <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Natural Bridges Saturday Night Date: Wed, 3 Sep 2008 15:13:38 -0600 Natural Bridges is remote and not a large park and does not get tons of visitors, it does not have the potential of a Bryce, Canyon Lands or Capital Reef to attract visitors but unlike some Parks the Ranger staff was very accommodating and happy to have us there, that's important to me. From our experience with Bryce I think we know very well that having the support of the Ranger staff makes all the difference, Bryce being an example of tremendous support as such the Bryce Star Party has become a terrific event. For that reason the trip to Natural Bridges was worth it and the event worthwhile. The facilities could probably support up to about 20 scopes although 6 - 12 or so would be more realistic because of limited accommodations in the park for both astronomers and visitors. That's probably the right number for this park. There was quite a bit of talk about the Grand Canyon Star party and the rangers from AZ were interested to see that grow and get some fresh blood as well, I think they were impressed with small but knowledgeable and enthusiastic SLAS contingent. There are other opportunities in AZ as well, we agreed we would discuss it further. Message: 2 Date: Wed, 3 Sep 2008 11:21:54 -0700 From: <zaurak@digis.net> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Natural Bridges Saturday Night To: "Utah Astronomy" <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Message-ID: <20080903112154.2569B564@resin11.mta.everyone.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" The small size of Natural Bridges seems the problem with holding public events there. If we got the turn out of Bryce there would be no room for visitors. As I recall, the nearest hotel is a good distance, Blanding, as Robert mentioned. It is dark but can only accommodate small groups, and long distance for a weekend trip. The Rangers at Island in the Sky seemed peeved when SLAS took over the campground there.Did anyone mention the Grand Canyon Star Party to the Northern Arizona people. Not the one on the North Rim but the South Rim, they get a pretty good turn out there. _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://gallery.utahastronomy.com Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com