Lowell Observatory - Discovery Channel Telescope comes to northern Arizona

Lowell Observatory and The Discovery Channel have partnered to bring an amazing new telescope to Flagstaff, the first Dark Sky city.

Located about 40 miles southeast of Flagstaff on Happy Jack Hill on the Coconino National Forest, the 4.2 meter telescope will be the fifth most-largest telescope in the continental United States when construction is completed in 2007. EnviroSystems Management completed environmental compliance, biological and cultural resource studies for the Forest Service.

Lowell Observatory demonstrated the need to find a site that meets strict criteria needed for astronomical facilities such as this. Geothermal considerations, prevailing weather patterns and the darkness quotient are studied in order to select the site with optimal conditions for astronomical observation. After four years of site analysis, a 30-acre cinder pit located north of the Happy Jack Government Compound along Forest Highway 3 was selected and EnviroSystems was brought on board the project team to perform the necessary regulatory compliance work. EnviroSystems completed the required environmental analysis, cultural resource surveys, and biological surveys, including assessing impacts to Mexican spotted owl critical habitats, to move the project forward. A visual quality impact analysis utilizing computer modeling was also performed to determine visual impacts of this facility on the surrounding area. EnviroSystems also instituted a public involvement program and compiled the public feedback data which that program generated. When telescope construction broke ground in July 2005, it was a victory for Lowell Observatory and The Discovery Channel.

( Success Story Archive )