Newly released poll results show a growing number of Montanans are concerned about maintaining environmental protections and public lands in 2026.
Colorado College published its sixteenth annual Conservation in the West poll this month. Surveyors in January collected over 3,000 responses from people in eight western states including Montana and Wyoming.
During a presentation on results, pollster Lori Weigel noted a bipartisan increase in extreme concerns over the rollback of environmental laws protecting land, water and wildlife compared to 2018 and 2019.
“And in fact what we’re seeing is that a majority in every single state except Wyoming, Wyoming’s just a tick below [fifty percent], are telling us it’s an extremely or very serious problem,” said Weigel. “So that’s really significant.”
60% of Montanans said they consider rollbacks a serious concern, which Weigel said is a 12% increase over six or seven years ago.
While Wyoming trended lower than Montana in some areas of environmental worry, people in both states oppose selling public lands for development, especially private housing.
“So, these aren’t things that people are feeling real shy about. They are willing to offer an opinion and in many cases, they are fairly intense in terms of that view,” said Weigel.
70% of respondents in both Wyoming and Montana said they strongly oppose converting public lands into housing. The majority of respondents across all eight states said they support continued funding to manage public lands.
