Fifty percent of Utahns are against oil and gas exploration on the north slope of the Uinta Mountains, while 36 percent favor it, according to a recent Deseret News/KSL poll.
Of the 50 percent opposed to oil and gas development, 35 percent said they "strongly oppose" the idea.While environmentalists are ecstatic over the poll results, an oil and gas industry spokesman said the poll question was "inadequate."
The U.S. Forest Service has recommended allowing oil and gas leasing on all 245,000 acres of forest land on the north slope, outside of the High Uintas Wilderness Area.
The poll, conducted by Dan Jones & Associates, indicates that many Utahns have reservations about the Forest Service recommendation, said George Nickas, assistant coordinator of the Utah Wilderness Association.
"That's a pretty powerful statement of public support for the Uintas and a strong indictment of the Forest Service's proposal to lease and develop up there."
The Forest Service has been holding a series of public meetings on the recommendation, the latest of which was Thursday night in Salt Lake City. Two hundred people attended.
Nickas said the Forest Service's draft environmental impact statement did not address the effects that oil and gas development would have on the citizenry of the Wasatch Front.
"The Forest Service has completely ignored most Utahns. There are more than a million visits per year and most of those people are from the Wasatch Front."Nickas said oil and gas development would harm the recreational values of the north slope and would negatively affect wildlife.
Dick Kline, spokesman for the Wasatch-Cache National Forest, said the Forest Service must consider numerous factors - not just public opinion - when making decisions about its lands, which are governed by congressional mandates.
Jim Peacock, executive director of the Utah Petroleum Association, said the poll results were not surprising, considering that the question was "an inadequate type of an inquiry."
The question posed to 608 respondents statewide was: "Would you favor or oppose allowing oil drilling on the north slope of Utah's Uinta Mountains?"
But Peacock said the question "needed to be accompanied by an explanation or an inquiry about whether or not people think it's important to produce energy in the West."
The Intermountain region is almost entirely dependent on oil produced in the region, but pro-duc-tion in the existing oil fields is declining.
"(The north slope) holds promise as an oil and gas producing area but we'll never know until we can get in there with our drilling rigs and (exploration equipment)," Peacock said.
The poll was conducted May 4-6 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent.
(Poll)
Would you favor or oppose allowing oil drilling on the north slope of Utah's Uinta Mountains?
Strongly favor 13%
Somewhat favor 23%
Somewhat oppose 15%
Strongly oppose 35%
Don't know 14%
Number polled: 608. Error margin: +- 4 percent.
Completed May 4-6, 1993. Dan Jones and Associates
Copyright 1993 Deseret News