Each year, Colorado College conducts its Conservation in the West poll as part of its State of the Rockies project. It surveys over 3,300 voters across eight Western states: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming.
Since its inception in 2011 with only five states, the poll has consistently found that Western voters care about public lands and environmental issues. This year's numbers come at a time when federal land management practices and environmental regulations are being upended by the second Trump administration.
In the 2026 survey, over 80% of voters in every state said that issues concerning public lands, water, and wildlife are at least somewhat important when voting for a candidate, even when compared to the economy, healthcare, and education. Across all eight states, that figure is 85%, compared to 75% ten years ago. That figure also holds across party lines: 78% of Republicans, 86% of independent voters, and 93% of Democrats say they consider environmental issues when picking a candidate.
What issues matter most to voters?
In the midst of a record-breaking warm and dry winter across the Mountain West, respondents were also concerned about ongoing drought and water scarcity. In Colorado, voters said the three biggest threats to water quality and supply were climate change (67% listed it as a "major threat"), population growth (57%), and aging water infrastructure (50%). Utahns listed the same concerns as their top three, though population growth was ahead of climate change.
In Wyoming, respondents were also concerned about population growth and aging infrastructure, but water use from data centers was also top of mind—39% of respondents said they presented a "major threat" to the state's water supply and quality.
90% of voters across all eight states said uncontrollable wildfires were a serious problem in their state. Concern was highest in Colorado, with 96% saying it was at least somewhat serious, and 80% saying it was a very/extremely serious problem.
Survey respondents were also concerned about funding and staffing cuts at federal land management agencies like the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the U.S. Forest Service.
In Colorado, 89% of voters say these cuts are a serious problem, with 68% categorizing them as "very serious." In Utah, 85% of voters say these cuts are a serious problem, with 48% categorizing them as "very serious." In Wyoming, 74% of voters say these cuts are a serious problem, with 41% categorizing them as "very serious."
Lori Weigel with New Bridge Strategy, the Republican polling firm on the report, recalled the first year Colorado College did the poll in 2011, with only five states. She said there was a completely different tenor to conversations about budget cuts for public lands.
"You know, we were asking about budget cuts, but it was nowhere (near) the level of intensity and concern," she said. "In fact, we were asking about state budget cuts on a lot of things, we weren't even talking about federal budget cuts. So, it just feels like it's much more tangible, and there's a real level of intensity behind what we're seeing throughout the data."
What do Western voters want from their elected officials?
Across the region, 76% of voters surveyed would like to see their elected officials put more emphasis on protecting recreation and wildlife habitat than on mining and drilling on public lands, a slight increase from 72% last year. That number is 78% in Colorado, 75% in Utah, and 62% in Wyoming.
Last summer, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) put forth a proposal during the federal budget process that would have sold millions of acres of Forest Service and BLM lands for housing development. The backlash to the sell-off was swift and bipartisan, and it didn't make it into the final reconciliation package.
76% of voters surveyed across all eight states were at least somewhat opposed to selling public lands for housing development, and 74% were opposed to selling it for oil and gas development.
"Do not ever allow their sale," one Wyoming voter wrote during the open response portion of the survey. The respondent, a Republican man in the 25-34 age group, added, "If Mike Lee ever tries to do it again, rebuke him."
The Trump administration has made attempts to weaken the Antiquities Act, the law that allows presidents to designate national monuments. During Trump's first term, officials sought to shrink the boundaries of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante national monuments. Now, Utah's congressional delegation could throw out Grand Staircase's resource management plan using the Congressional Review Act.
Western voters, by and large, believe national monument designations and boundaries should remain in place. 91% of voters expressed some level of support for keeping protections for national monuments—an 11-point increase from 2017, when 80% expressed some level of support for national monument designations.
And, 75% of voters were at least somewhat opposed to allowing Congress to override local resource management plans developed with community input.
The poll also shows that Western voters want transparency around management decisions for public lands. 70% of voters were opposed to fast-tracking oil, gas, and mining projects with reduced environmental reviews and local public input—including 74% of Coloradans, 73% of Utahns, and 60% of Wyomingites.
"So very clear indication here that people not only oppose selling national public lands for this oil gas and mining development, but also that they want to have a say in how these plans are made," said Miranda Everitt, a pollster who works for Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates, the Democratic group working on the report.
How do the numbers break down?
Concerns over climate change vary across the eight states. Voters in more conservative states tended to view climate change as less of a problem than more liberal states. For example, only 49% of Wyomingites surveyed said climate change was a serious problem, compared to 85% of Coloradans.
Wyoming was also the only state that preferred prioritizing fossil fuels over renewable energy. When asked how to prioritize the United States' energy needs, 57% of Wyoming respondents said the priority should be "drilling and mining for more coal, oil and gas wherever we can find it in the U.S."
That's compared to 76% of Coloradans and 72% of Utahns who said the priority should be "reducing our need for more coal, oil and gas, by expanding our use of clean, renewable energy that can be generated in the U.S."
Younger people were also more likely to view climate change as a serious problem. 84% of Gen Z respondents said climate change was a serious problem, and 71% said it was an extremely serious problem. 81% of millennials agreed it was a problem, along with 73% of Gen Xers and 68% of Baby Boomers and older.
Latino, Black, and Native American voters were also more likely than white voters to say environmental issues were "very important" in their decision to support political candidates. All four groups said these factors were at least somewhat important at pretty high rates—over 80% of all four groups said it was at least somewhat important.
But 57% of Native American voters categorized environmental issues as "very important" compared to 40% of Latino voters, 42% of Black voters, and 32% of white voters.
"In the West, conservation is not simply a policy issue, it's about our identity and our heritage and our way of life," said Maite Arce, president of the Hispanic Access Foundation.
"For Latino communities, Black communities, and Indigenous voters in particular, this poll shows a deep engagement and care. These communities are showing up and voicing their commitment to protecting the land and waters that sustain their families, and support their small business, and sustain their traditions like fishing, hiking, gathering outdoors, and spending time together in nature."
Copyright 2026 Rocky Mountain Community Radio. This story was shared via Rocky Mountain Community Radio, a network of public media stations in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and New Mexico, including KDNK.