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The State of the Rockies Project at Colorado College released its 15th annual Conservation in the West Poll on Wednesday. The survey of more than 3,000 voters across eight Western states found broad, increasing support for conservation, and strong bipartisan repudiation of the Trump administration's policies on public lands.
88 percent of Western voters supported keeping existing national monument designations on public lands — an eight point increase compared to 2017. 72 percent of Western voters prefer that elected officials place more emphasis on protecting water, air, and wildlife, while only 24 percent prefer elected officials prioritize the production of energy by maximizing the amount of public lands available for oil and gas production.
81 percent of Westerners expressed serious concerns about the cost of living, but voters do not want to sacrifice public lands to build more housing. Only 14 percent favor selling off lands to develop housing on natural areas, while 82 percent prefer to build more housing within or close to existing communities.
More notable results from the poll:
- 85 percent of Utahns want career professionals rather than new political appointees to make decisions about public lands
- 80 percent of Montanans oppose reducing funding for agencies that oversee public lands
- 94 percent of Wyomingites support keeping the requirement that oil and gas companies, rather than taxpayers, pay for all of the clean-up and land restoration costs after drilling
- 82 percent of Idahoans support building housing close to existing communities rather than selling public lands to develop housing on natural areas
- 73 percent of Nevadans support the government taking action to reduce carbon pollution that contributes to climate change
- 92 percent of Coloradans want to leave existing national monument designations in place
- 72 percent of Arizonans say inadequate water supply is a serious problem
- 74 percent of New Mexicans support only allowing oil and gas companies the right to drill in areas where there is high likelihood to produce oil and gas
View the entire poll results from all eight states at the Colorado College State of the Rockies Project.
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It would be a mistake to think that the votes cast were mandates for significant policy change. Voters are generally happy with the way that public lands are being managed, and they would much rather continue to preserve something that they see as so critical to their quality of life, as opposed to a radically different direction.”
