Colorado Wildlife Federation The 2023 Colorado College State of the Rockies Conservation in the West Poll released February 15, 2023, is the 13th year of this important bipartisan poll. As in other years, voters in 8 western states were surveyed to ascertain their opinions on a variety of conservation issues. You can view combined results and also select any of the 8 states. The research was conducted again by Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates, a national Democratic opinion research firm and by New Bridge Strategy, a Colorado-based Republican opinion research firm.
Colorado results include these highlights: 82% “support a national goal of conserving 30% of America’s land and waters by the year 2030.” 90% “support protecting existing public lands surrounding the Dolores River Canyon to conserve important wildlife habitat, and safeguard the area’s scenic beauty and support outdoor recreation.”
83% “believe the Colorado River is critical to the state’s economy” and 77% “believe that the Colorado River is need of urgent action.” 88% “support requiring local governments to determine whether there is enough water available before approving new residential development projects.” 81% support providing financial incentives to homeowners and businesses to replace lawns and grassy areas with water-saving landscaping.”
71% “support only allowing oil and gas companies the right to drill in areas where there is high likelihood to actually produce oil and gas.” The same percentage “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.”