As voters head to the polls across the Mountain West, one of the most prominent and bipartisan throughlines in 2026 is protecting America’s public lands and natural resources. Broadly, we have already seen public lands serve as a salient and decisive issue across elections, central to the identity of voters across the states highlighted. This report highlights recent data from multiple polling firms that surveyed Mountain West voters:
View the 2026 Winning the West public lands polling memo
Topline takeaways:
- For an overwhelming percentage of Mountain West voters, public lands rate incredibly positively, and
are understood as valuable to the economy. Even in the context of other important issues like
affordability, health care, and education, 86% of voters see issues involving public lands, waters, and
wildlife as a motivating factor in supporting an elected public official across Mountain West states. - Funding cuts, rollbacks of protections, and loss of natural areas rank as top concerns for voters across
states. - Selling off public lands is a third rail for Mountain West voters; majorities as high as 85% in one state
(Montana) prefer to keep public lands in public hands. - When given a direct choice, more than three voters to one favor protecting America’s natural resources
and public lands rather than maximizing the land available for oil, gas drilling, and mining. This
preference for protecting public lands is consistent across party lines, and concern over the impact of
oil and gas drilling continues to steadily rise year over year. - Across a variety of individual actions that give preferential treatment to oil, gas, and mining companies
over national lands, over 70% of voters across Mountain West states opposed those actions. - Regardless of party, Western voters demonstrate a clear preference and priority for renewable energy
sources over fossil fuels, a pattern that has only increased over the past 14 years.