The people of the American West have spoken, and support for public lands is stronger than ever. For 16 years, Colorado College has conducted the Conservation in the West Poll, a bipartisan survey of voters in eight Western states that is part of the school’s State of the Rockies project to gauge public opinion on environmental issues and public lands. This year’s survey, released in February, reveals Westerners’ views on conservation: It is central to their quality of life, economy, and identity.
The poll, conducted jointly by Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates, a national Democratic polling firm, and New Bridge Strategy, a Republican firm based in Colorado, interviewed 3,419 voters—36% Republican, 36% Independent, and 28% Democrat. Seventy-two percent of respondents were white, with voters of color, including Blacks, Latinos, and Native Americans, making up 28 percent.
Those surveyed expressed overwhelming concern about rollbacks of protections for national public lands and identified funding cuts as a serious problem for the agencies that steward our public lands. A record high percentage of respondents prefer to emphasize protecting clean water, air quality, wildlife habitat, and recreation opportunities over the current administration’s “energy dominance” agenda.
Last year, the administration rolled back the US Forest Service’s national Roadless Area Conservation Rule and the Bureau of Land Management’s Public Lands Rule. The poll shows that more than four in five Westerners now say such rollbacks of laws that protect our land, water, and wildlife are a serious problem, including nearly three in five who describe them as extremely or very serious issues. This represents a sharp increase from 2018, when three in five viewed rollbacks as a serious problem and just two in five rated them as an extremely or very serious problem.
In 2025, thousands of jobs were lost in federal land management agencies as part of the administration’s workforce reduction program, hindering the maintenance and general upkeep of our nation’s parks, trails, campgrounds, and infrastructure. Of those polled, 91 percent are concerned that reduced staffing is undermining wildfire suppression and protection (fully 64 percent are very concerned), 83 percent are concerned about fewer national public lands employees providing visitor and maintenance services (46 percent are very concerned), and 82 percent express concern regarding wildlife protection and monitoring due to expert staff cuts (45 percent are very concerned).
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act was signed into law in July 2025. It contained several industry-friendly provisions, including mandated quarterly oil and gas lease sales in eight states, expedited lease sales occurring within 18 months of parcel nomination, and reduced royalty rates. Ironically, 70 percent of respondents oppose fast-tracking oil, gas, and mining projects on national public lands by reducing environmental reviews and local public input. The percentage of Westerners who prefer expanding renewable energy over drilling and mining for more fossil fuels is even higher—72 percent. And more Westerners than ever before—76 percent—say they would prefer their member of Congress to place more emphasis on conservation and recreation on public lands over maximizing energy production.
Arguably the most crucial findings, given that 2026 is a midterm election year, were those denoting preference for leaders who are conservation minded. In Colorado, 78 percent of those polled prefer that leaders place more emphasis on protecting water, air, wildlife habitat, and recreation opportunities over maximizing the amount of land available for drilling and mining, and 89 percent believe issues involving public lands, waters, and wildlife are important in deciding whether to support an elected public official.
This sentiment is consistent with respondents as a whole—85 percent say issues involving public lands, waters, and wildlife are important in deciding whether to support a public official. In fact, the importance of issues involving public lands, waters, and wildlife is considerably higher than a decade ago: in 2026 this number was 85 percent versus 75 percent in 2016. This message is confirmed across party lines: 78 percent of Republicans, 86 percent of Independents, and 93 percent of Democrats agree.
The evidence is overwhelming—let’s see if members of Congress are listening. The year 2025 was marked by the expansion of energy development, deregulation targeting longstanding environmental policies, the gutting of the federal workforce, and an attempted public lands sell-off, much of which directly affected the public lands of Western Colorado. Contrary to what government actions might imply, the Conservation in the West Poll confirms that this is not what Americans want. Public lands are not partisan, but patriotic; not for selling off, but for stewarding; and not for piping, but for protecting. In short, public lands are for safeguarding.
To read more results of the Conservation West Land Poll, click here.