The Mid-Columbia Economic Development District has a received a 2017 Innovation Award from the National Association of Development Organizations for the Gorge Night Sky project.   The Gorge Night Sky Project was a collaborative effort between MCEDD, Friends of the Goldendale Observatory, and the Goldendale Chamber of Commerce, and other governmental and business partners.  The project promoted preservation of the Columbia River Gorge’s rural dark sky by supporting education about International Dark-Sky standards and recommendations for energy efficient LED lighting.  Those efforts included development of an educational unit for local schools and organization of a two-day educational symposium to allow interested parties to discuss issues and possible solutions on local and regional scales.