This area of cosmic wonder includes portions of Malheur, Lake and Harney counties to the east of larger Southern Oregon cities like Medford, Klamath Falls and Ashland. They are so sparsely populated that the region is also known as the Oregon Outback. And while much of the nighttime world grows brighter every year, as much as 11 million acres of Outback are on track to become an official Dark Sky Sanctuary in 2023. That would be the largest area of its kind, and good news not just for curious humans checking out the Milky Way but also for wildlife that needs the dark to thrive.
