Western states are home to millions of acres of national public lands that are owned by all Americans and managed by the federal government. States have an important role to play in advancing the protection of, and access to, national public lands within their borders. States also manage millions of acres of lands such as state parks, state wildlife areas, and state trust lands. Energy development—whether fossil fuel drilling or renewable energy generation—is a significant use of public lands, especially in the West. While energy development is driven in large part by where resources are found, governments can also influence where projects are sited and what requirements projects must meet to protect communities, wildlife, and the environment from the impacts of energy development. States can also do their part to ensure that taxpayers are receiving a fair return when state resources are extracted by private companies and sold for private profit. Similarly, as Western states’ economies and populations continue to grow, issues such as housing availability and affordability, sustainable water supply, and wildfire risk have emerged as increasingly urgent challenges. States can, and should, adopt and enforce clear standards and policies that discourage sprawl, prevent unsustainable water use, and avoid building in high fire risk areas and sensitive wildlife habitats.

The 2024 Western States Conservation Scorecard evaluates eight Western states—Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming—on benchmarks in three categories: land protection and access; responsible energy development; and land use and planning for growth. The 2024 scorecard updates and builds upon CWP’s previous state conservation scorecard, released in 2017. While some benchmarks are the same or similar, others are new or different to reflect changes in the conservation policy landscape over the past seven years. 

Best of the West:

While no state achieved a perfect score, Colorado, Nevada, and New Mexico emerged as clear conservation leaders. All three states have strong, well-funded conservation programs and have demonstrated their commitment to public land protections. Colorado and New Mexico have also made significant improvements in regulating oil and gas development in recent years, placing them far ahead of other Western states in protecting communities and taxpayers from the environmental impacts of oil and gas drilling. Nevada has taken several steps to manage growth while conserving public lands, guarding water supplies, and protecting wildlife and their habitats.

Middle of the pack:

Both Montana and Wyoming show that Western states can make progress on conservation in ways that work for them. Montana has taken important steps to better manage growth in a way that conserves water supplies and wildlife habitat, while Wyoming has supported wildlife habitat conservation and public land access for outdoor recreation. Both states have room to improve in regulating oil and gas development.

Falling behind:

While all eight states have room to improve, Arizona, Idaho, and Utah have the opportunity to significantly improve their scores in multiple categories. These states generally score well on protecting public land access for outdoor recreation, but need to back that up with support for public land conservation and better stewardship of natural resources in the face of accelerating growth. Fortunately, other Western states offer successful models for stronger pro-conservation policies in each benchmark evaluated by this scorecard offering a menu of options that have been shown to work in states with similar landscapes and natural resources. 

Learn more about each state’s scores and what states across the West are doing by exploring each benchmark below: