San Marcos joins Lights Out Texas; declares April 1–June 7 lights-out period to protect migrating birds
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Summary
Mayor Jane Houston proclaimed a city lights-out period from April 1 through June 7, 2026 (11 p.m.–6 a.m.) to protect migrating birds. A presenter described planned collision surveys with Texas State University and mitigation options; the presenter also stated large annual bird-collision mortality figures and a 60% reduction claim for lights-out measures.
Mayor Jane Houston proclaimed that the City of San Marcos will join the Lights Out Texas initiative and directed municipal buildings to turn off or dim nonessential lights from 11:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. during the period April 1 through June 7, 2026. The proclamation encouraged residents and businesses to participate in the effort to reduce bird collisions during spring migration.
A presenter explained that Texas lies along the Central Flyway and described local efforts: San Marcos has joined the statewide Lights Out Texas initiative, the city is planning building-collision surveys with Texas State University, and the city is exploring mitigation measures such as bird-safe film and dark-sky lighting. The presenter said that turning off nonessential lights overnight is a simple mitigation step and urged community participation.
In the remarks, the presenter asserted a large-scale mortality figure and an estimated reduction from lights-out actions: the presenter stated that about 1,000,000,000 birds die annually from building collisions and said that turning off lights could reduce collisions by roughly 60%. Those numerical claims were made in the presentation and are reported here as claims; the transcript does not include an independent verification or a response to those figures during the meeting.
The proclamation places the initiative into effect during the specified dates and asks the community to participate; the transcript did not record any formal vote or budget appropriation related to the declaration.
