Every once in a while, we get a reminder that there are treasures in our own backyard that exist almost nowhere else in the United States. If you’ve looked up at the clear night sky lately, you may have been thrilled to see so many stars — maybe even a wisp of the Milky Way.

If you’ve looked up to the sky on a clear night above Calhoun County Park, in Mount Zion; or along the Highland Scenic Highway in Pocahontas County, you’ve gotten a nearly pre-industrial show.

“If you want to know what the night looked like in the good ol’ days, come to West Virginia, where the sky can grow brilliant with stars,” astronomer David Buhrman told West Virginia Explorer magazine.

Yes, we are right in the center of the eastern United States. But that dark blotch on maps showing industrialized and more lighted regions of the country is both a point of embarrassment and something to be cherished.

We’ve got a long way to go to figure out how to resolve that conundrum, though one would hope economic development bureaucrats and elected officials alike will understand the importance and possibility of preserving such wonders without holding us back.

In the meantime, while it might be a bit disingenuous to suggest an hour’s drive from Pittsburgh or Washington, D.C., will plunge one into the kind of darkness that makes real stargazing possible, it is true we should be looking for ways to coax visitors in to spend some time under our dark skies.

Our region has some in Wetzel and Tyler counties, where a few of the remote ridgetops offer beautiful dark-sky views, according to the magazine.

That’s worth inviting people in to see as a means of growing our population and communities; and it’s worth saving. Our challenge is doing both.