DENVER, CO — A new poll conducted for the National Wildlife Federation shows overwhelming support for the protection of wildlife migration routes. More than 84% of respondents in Colorado and New Mexico said they would like to see increased efforts to safeguard wildlife corridors. When asked about specific proposals to provide those protections, over 73% supported every potential solution, from building overpasses on highways to preventing oil and gas development in known wildlife corridors.
“Residents of New Mexico and Colorado clearly recognize the importance and pragmatism of keeping migration routes connected so that wildlife can thrive,” said Tracy Stone-Manning, associate vice president for public lands at the National Wildlife Federation. “Coloradans and New Mexicans cherish their lands and the wildlife that live on them. This poll confirms the enormous priority residents place on protecting them.”
Respondents showed strong enthusiasm for several potential solutions to protect wildlife corridors, including:
- Ensuring migration protections in national forests (94% favor)
- Building more overpasses and underpasses for wildlife (87% favor)
- Guaranteeing that land-use planners consider wildlife corridors (87% favor)
- Preventing oil and gas and other development in known corridors (73% favor)
“This important poll demonstrates overwhelming support to safeguard migration routes of our elk, deer, pronghorn, bighorn sheep and other wildlife between their winter and summer ranges, traversing public and private lands,” said Suzanne O’Neill, executive director of the Colorado Wildlife Federation. “We firmly believe that robust collaboration among state and federal agencies, private landowners, counties, communities and the public must-and will-accomplish this outcome, enabling future generations, too, to enjoy our unparalleled wildlife.”
“This poll shows that New Mexicans of all ages and backgrounds support common sense solutions that enable us to share this landscape with wildlife,” said Jesse Deubel, executive director of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation.
The poll, conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner and RBI Strategies and Research was based on telephone and online surveys of 800 likely voters (400 in each state), conducted March 17-21, 2019. The margin of error for the phone sample is +/- 4.9%.
