Poll: Western Republican and Democratic Voters Alike Support Public Lands

COLORADO PUBLIC RADIO

January 31, 2019

Both Republicans and Democrats across the Interior West are concerned about Trump administration policies that shrink national monuments and promote oil and gas development on public lands.

That’s according to the ninth annual Conservation in the West poll, a bipartisan snapshot of values across the Interior West.

“There is an overwhelming sentiment that conservation rather than resource extraction ought to be guiding our management of these lands,” pollster Dave Metz said.

The poll results show a disconnect between decisions made in Washington D.C. at the federal level and the wishes of voters, Metz said.

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State Of The Rockies: Western Voters Identify As “Outdoor Enthusiasts”

KRCC

KEUR-FM Online

By Ali Budner

The 2019 State of the Rockies report says 70 percent of western voters identify as “outdoor enthusiasts.” The annual bipartisan poll surveys how voters across the Mountain West feel about public lands, water, wildlife, and energy expansion.

“It’s not just a stereotype about the west,” said Lori Weigel of New Bridge Strategy, a Republican-leaning opinion research firm that partnered with a Democratic-leaning firm to conduct the poll. “They are embracing it.”

The State of the Rockies program is based at Colorado College in Colorado Springs and sponsors the survey.

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Poll shows growing impact of climate change

BILLINGS GAZETTE ONLINE

Concern about climate change has grown significantly for voters in western states like Montana, according to the most recent installment of the Colorado College State of the Rockies poll.

“Every single state we tracked saw a jump up in responses,” pollster Lori Weigel said during a conference call with reporters on Thursday. The ninth annual poll started asking how worried people were about climate change in 2016. The number concerned has grown in every state every year, she said.

Weigel works for a Republican-focused polling firm, and teams up with Democratic pollster David Metz to conduct the survey. The poll by landline and cellphone calls reached 3,200 registered voters in eight states between January 2 and 9.

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Number of Arizonans who see climate change as a ‘serious’ problem jumps

 

ARIZONA MIRROR

CRONKITE NEWS

ARIZONA BUSINESS MAGAZINE ONLINE

CASA GRANDE DISPATCH ONLINE

ROSE LAW GROUP REPORTER

By Andrew Howard

Thursday, Jan. 31, 2019

WASHINGTON – The number of Arizonans who believe climate change is a “serious problem” has grown sharply in the past three years, according to an annual survey of Western-state voters’ opinions on environmental issues.

That was just one finding of the Conservation in the West Poll released Thursday by Colorado College’s State of the Rockies Project. It also claimed that voters in eight states are worried about water and climate issues, disappointed in recent federal rollback of environmental protections and even willing to pay more taxes for conservation.

The survey, the ninth annual, said 73 percent of Arizona voters claim to be worried about climate change in 2019, up from 63 percent in 2016. That was higher than the 69 percent in the eight-state region who said they see climate change as a serious problem in 2019.  Read more

Four seasons: Colorado water in a changing climate

THE COLORADO INDEPENDENT

by Lars Gesing

January 24, 2019

Part 1:  The life and death of snow

Editor’s Note: Over the next year, The Colorado Independent will examine, season by season, the effects climate change is having on the state’s water supply and the many forms of life it sustains.

Every time Stella Molotch finishes a run down the ski slope at Steamboat, her dad Noah slips two Skittles into her tiny hands. It’s a reward – yet another step forward as the six year old is learning to ski.

People across the Rocky Mountain ranges long have quipped that kids here often learn to ski before they know how to walk. But these days, this powder-based parenting style is increasingly born out of necessity rather than impatience.

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Climate change, public lands take center stage at Denver’s Outdoor Retailer trade show

DENVER • Outdoor Retailer’s winter extravaganza returned to the Mile High City for a second January since the move from Utah, where tradespeople felt betrayed by the state government’s support of shrinking national monuments.

Once again almost 900 exhibitors filled halls and ballrooms this week, and once again industry representatives used offshoot meeting spaces at the recreation industry’s premier trade show to rally for the protection of public lands.

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Editor’s Note: Over the next year, The Colorado Independent will examine, season by season, the effects climate change is having on the state’s water supply and the many forms of life it sustains.

Every time Stella Molotch finishes a run down the ski slope at Steamboat, her dad Noah slips two Skittles into her tiny hands. It’s a reward – yet another step forward as the six year old is learning to ski.

People across the Rocky Mountain ranges long have quipped that kids here often learn to ski before they know how to walk. But these days, this powder-based parenting style is increasingly born out of necessity rather than impatience.

Read more