What began as a trickle has become a flood of evidence: Western voters care deeply about conservation and they’re willing to use the ballot box to reward conservation-friendly candidates. Westerners of all stripes—Republicans, Democrats and Independents—understand how important public lands are to our economy and our lifestyle, and want to make sure public lands are open and accessible long into the future.
The 2014 State of the Rockies Conservation in the West poll, the fourth installment of the bipartisan poll released each year by Colorado College, gauges how public land decisions effect Western voters, their opinions and their electoral decisions. The poll’s findings offer guidance for Western congressional candidates—support for public land conservation can sway voters in a candidate’s favor, while opposition can sway voters against.
Entering this year’s elections, Western voters are perturbed about the recent actions of Congress. Westerners are in overwhelming agreement that last year’s unnecessary government shutdown hurt communities, with 85 percent of voters agreeing that closing national parks and public lands to visitors and recreation during the shutdown hurt small businesses and the economy.
QUESTION: When you think about the federal government shutdown last year, which of the following best describes how you felt about the subsequent closing of public lands like national parks, national forests, and hunting and outdoor recreation areas?
The current Congress is following in the footsteps of its immediate predecessor, which was the first in decades not to protect a single new acre of public land as a park, monument or wilderness. Meanwhile, our elected officials aren’t giving land managers, like the National Park Service and National Forest Service, the tools and budget to effectively manage America’s public lands.
The actions (or inaction) of Congress is not a result of electoral realities. To the contrary, Western voters are more likely to back a candidate who supports protecting public lands and who favors properly funding land management agencies, like the U.S. Forest Service. On the flip side, voters are less likely to support candidates who want to cut agency budgets and favor selling off our public lands.
Summary of Candidate Positions | More Likely to Support |
A candidate who supports enhancing protections for some public lands like national forests | 69% |
A candidate who votes to increase funding for agencies like the U.S. Forest Service | 58% |
Summary of Candidate Positions | Less Likely to Support |
A candidate who supports selling public lands like national forests to reduce the budget deficit | 72% |
A candidate who votes to reduce funding for agencies like the U.S. Forest Service | 67% |
Hopefully Western elected officials pay attention to the 2014 Conservation in the West poll. Voters want public lands strengthened, they want the government protecting lands for hunting, fishing, hiking and other recreation, and they want robust funding for conservation and land management.
There are multiple bipartisan opportunities to enhance protections for public lands and get conservation moving again. A good starting place is to pass long languishing conservation bills to permanently protect pristine outdoor spaces, like Browns Canyon in Colorado and Boulder-White Clouds in Idaho. Congress can also finally act to extend and fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund, a crucial source of funding to enhance access onto public lands.
While Americans living in some regions may not have easy access to public lands, the Rocky Mountain West is filled with renowned national parks, forests, monuments and wildlife refuges. Westerners know firsthand the benefits of public lands to our economy and our lifestyle. We’re willing to decide our vote on it.