- Colorado College's State of the Rockies project surveyed people in eight states on land, water and wildlife issues.
- A large majority of voters in the West believe rolling back public land protections is a serious problem.
- Utahns overwhelmingly say national monuments should keep their boundaries and national parks should retain funding.
Voters in the West are concerned about budget and staffing cuts in agencies that manage public lands and say that rolling back conservation laws are a significant problem, according to the 2026 Conservation in the West poll.
Overall, the survey found an overwhelming majority of voters in the West support conservation efforts and said those issues were a priority when considering political candidates.
“The results send a clear message. Communities across the West care deeply about conservation, recreation and responsible stewardship,” said Maite Arce, the president and CEO of the Hispanic Access Foundation, during a presentation on the poll Wednesday. “And they want those values to guide the future of our public lands and waters.”
Colorado College conducts the survey as part of its State of the Rockies project, an academic study that seeks an “understanding of and action to address socio-environmental challenges in the Rocky Mountain West.”
Now in its 16th year, the poll of 3,419 registered voters in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming was conducted Jan. 2-18. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.4 percentage points.
Respondents were 36% Republicans, 36% independents and 28% Democrats. Pollsters for the first time also allowed respondents to identify as supporters of the Make America Great Again agenda, which 35% did. Democrats were the smallest percentage of those polled.
Among those polled, 52% were men, 48% women; 72% white and 28% people of color, including Black and Native American.
“At a time of growing pressure on land and water in the West, the call to action from voters is clear and bipartisan: Westerners want funding and stewardship for public lands and natural resources,” Ian Johnson, director of strategic initiatives & sustainability at Colorado College, said in a statement.
What did the poll find?
The poll results show widespread concern among voters about rollbacks of protections for land, water and wildlife, and cuts to funding for public land management. Some highlights:
- Regarding the rollback of laws and rules that protect land, water and wildlife, 84% of voters said it was a serious problem.
- Nearly all respondents — 91% — said national monuments designation should stay in place.
- Overall, 70% of respondents oppose fast-tracking oil, gas and mining projects on federal land as a result of reducing reviews and public input.
- More than three-quarters said that they wished conservation and recreation were more of a priority for their elected officials than extraction, the highest percentage since the poll’s inception.
- Public land issues are a deciding factor on who to support in an election for 85% of respondents across the West.
- Nearly three-quarters oppose public land sales for oil and gas development.
- Nearly three-quarters prefer more renewable energy emphasis over natural resource extraction.
What did Utahns have to say?
When split out by state, Utah voters were mostly aligned with their neighbors.
Regarding the threat of climate change, 73% of Utahns said it is a serious problem and 78% saying it is a serious threat.
More than half of Utah respondents believe that rolling back protections on land, water and wildlife is an “extremely” or “very serious” problem.
On energy matters, 75% of Utahns want leaders who prioritize protecting land ahead of opening it up for natural resource extraction. Nearly that share, 73%, oppose fast-tracking natural resource extraction by limiting National Environmental Review Act processes. Nearly all, 92%, too, want to see oil and gas companies foot the bill for land restoration after drilling is finished.
There were some areas, however, where the state differed.
Regarding national parks, 92% said it was important to dedicate funds to protecting national parks and public lands, which was higher than the Western averages.
In Utah, the smallest percentage of respondents — 28% — said that conservation was a “very important” reason for choosing one political candidate over another.
The poll asked some state specific questions for Utahns, with regards to the Great Salt Lake. More than 9 in 10 say the condition of the lake is a problem, with a little over two-thirds saying it is “extremely” or “very” serious.
Utah was also the only state where voters considered air quality a serious issue.
Conducting a fair poll
Both a Republican and a Democratic polling organization were used to create and conduct the survey.
Republican pollster Lori Weigel of New Bridge Strategy said that it doesn’t matter what the subject of a poll might be — child care or other political issues — people do not tend to dismiss things being discussed as “not a problem.”
“That’s why we will always highlight those saying ‘extremely’ or ‘very serious’ within those who say it’s a ‘serious problem,’ for example,” Weigel said.
That range allows those reading the poll to get a better sense of respondents’ sentiments. The questions are also simplified to remove bias.
“We just don’t have the time to give everybody a, ‘Some people say this, other people say that,’ on every single question,” Weigel said. “But we work as hard as possible to say things simply, succinctly, in plain language without using technical policy speak, but fairly, so that we’re randomizing things.”