A reported 98% of Coloradans support federal public lands conservation and open space. About 6% see data center development as an acceptable use of that public land.
That’s according to a statewide poll released Tuesday, conducted by nonpartisan research firm Magellan Strategies and commissioned by Keep It Public CO, a collaborative of multiple environmental groups including Western Slope Conservation Center and Carbondale-based Wilderness Workshop.
The survey was conducted in mid-September and asked residents from across Colorado a series of questions about their thoughts on public land uses and proposed conservation initiatives.
The 1,149 participants were selected and weighed using voter data to ensure the poll’s results accurately represented the state, said Courtney Sievers, director of survey research for Magellan Strategies. Unaffiliated voters made up 49% of respondents, adding to a pool that was 26% Democrat and 23% Republican.
Results suggested that the state is largely unified when it comes to issues like conservation and the federal government’s responsibility over public land. Even on controversial topics, a majority of Republican respondents aligned with a majority of Democratic and unaffiliated respondents.
“It's really clear that the gap isn’t between urban and rural communities, Democrats or Republicans, in terms of the importance and popularity of our public lands in the state,” said Brien Webster, senior public lands campaign manager at Conservation Colorado. “The gap is really [between] what's happening in Congress and what Coloradans here believe and what's important to them.”
The polling comes as Colorado residents, businesses and politicians navigate continued administrative changes to public land under the Trump administration.
Since assuming office, President Donald Trump has cut over 1,753 positions — roughly 26% — of the government’s public land staff in Colorado, signed a law that mandated quarterly lease sales of public lands for oil and gas drilling, and supported a failed, GOP-led attempt to sell up to 14.3 million acres of the state’s public lands to generate revenue that would offset proposed tax cuts.
The federal government manages roughly 24.1 million acres, or 36.2% of Colorado’s land, under the National Forest Service, National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management. Public land is used for recreation, wildlife conservation, mineral extraction and livestock grazing, among other uses.
Pitkin and Garfield counties are roughly 84% and 60% public land, respectively. The Forest Service manages over a million acres between the two counties, most of which falls in the White River National Forest, the most visited national forest in the country.
BLM land atop the Roan Plateau in Garfield County has been at the center of a statewide controversy, as the government plans to lease about 5,000 acres for oil and gas drilling to comply with the federal quarterly mandates. Environmental advocates have long fought for the protection of the Roan, arguing that drilling operations would disrupt the wildlife ecosystems that reside there.
Polling found that 81% of Colorado residents do not see oil and gas drilling as an acceptable use of public lands. That includes 95% of Democrat respondents, 86% of unaffiliated, and 56% of Republican respondents.
About 93% of respondents said hiking and wildlife conservation were acceptable, and 88% approved of hunting on public lands — including 95% of Republican respondents, 89% of unaffiliated and 79% of Democrat respondents.
Support for federal measures
Federal bills that expand public land protections were largely supported by a majority of respondents.
About 83% of respondents supported the Local Input Act, which would mandate that the BLM ask for and consider feedback and concerns from local communities before leasing any acres of public lands, like the Roan Plateau, for oil and gas drilling. About 92% of Democratic, 87% of unaffiliated and 65% of Republican respondents supported the measure.
The Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy Act, or CORE Act, was the most controversial bill between parties, supported by 98% of Democratic, 86% of unaffiliated and 55% of Republican respondents.
The bill would add new protections to about 420,000 acres across Colorado. Across Pitkin, Garfield, Mesa and Gunnison counties, it would permanently protect the 225,000-acre Thompson Divide from oil and gas drilling.
When regionalized to Congressional District 3, the Republican-held district encompassing a large swath of west and south Colorado, support for the CORE Act dropped to 69% of respondents.
Will Roush, executive director of Wilderness Workshop, said he feels the CORE Act would see more bipartisan support if it were polled at a local level across Garfield and Pitkin counties.
“This amazing coalition of ranchers and mountain bikers and local governments and real estate agents, you name it, all want to see that place protected,” Roush said. “But it keys into a national conversation about energy production.”
Another issue that saw polling contention was whether county commissioners should have the authority to veto a federal public lands bill that would affect their county, even if residents are for the bill.
About 48% of Republican respondents said they were against such a change, while another 19% were undecided. Democratic and unaffiliated respondents both saw 61% of their groups against the measure, with 27% and 24%, respectively, being undecided.
County commissioners often issue letters of support or opposition when bills affect their regions, but they have no authority over the legislative outcome.
Jim Ramey, Colorado state director for the Wilderness Society, said the polling data is important to inform the public lands debates happening across the state and country.
“There’s lots of public lands issues that Coloradans are grappling with every day … and this data gives us a sense of where Colorado residents are at on these issues,” Ramey said. “What they would like their members of Congress and other elected leaders to do in response to those issues.”
Drew Shaw is a Report for America corps member covering public lands in Garfield County for the Aspen Daily News.
