BRODIE FARQUHAR Star-Tribune correspondent | Posted: Sunday, November 4, 2007 12:00 am
Wyoming voters want to preserve "what makes Wyoming Wyoming," as one person put it, according to a statewide survey commissioned by conservation and agriculture groups.
Results from the May polling indicate that Wyoming voters strongly support dedicating additional state revenues to conservation. More specifically, the vast majority of voters support the Legislature in funding the Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust Fund to the tune of $200 million by 2010.
The poll was commissioned by the Ruckelshaus Institute of Environment and Natural Resources, the Wyoming Stock Growers Association and the Wyoming chapter of The Nature Conservancy. The disparate groups briefed Gov. Dave Freudenthal about the survey results.
"He called us 'the unholy trinity' when he saw us in the same room," said Diana Hulme, assistant director of the Ruckelshaus Institute. She said three strong organizations with different points of view helped create a better, less biased survey.
"We kept each other in check," Hulme said.
The poll was conducted May 12-15 by Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin & Associates, a firm associated with Democratic candidates, and Public Opinion Strategies, a firm associated with Republicans. Telephone interviews were conducted with 600 registered voters across Wyoming. The margin of error was 4 percentage points.
Some 69 percent of those polled either "strongly favor" or "somewhat favor" funding the wildlife trust fund with $200 million by 2010, with 25 percent either somewhat or strongly opposed. The groups said the support for fully funding the program cuts across all demographic subgroups and every region of the state.
Bob Budd, executive director of the trust fund, said his board saw survey results in August and was gratified with public support for the trust's mission. The board has approved millions of dollars in grants to improve and protect wildlife habitat.
"Our work is making a difference," he said.
Budd said survey results tend to amplify the board's work in support of wildlife habitat, wildlife, open spaces and a viable agricultural economy.
"We can do more if we have more money to work with," he said.
Only one-third of the publichad heard much about the trust fund, according to the poll, yet 80 percent those who were familiar with the program were supportive of its goals.
Other results
According to the poll, public confidence in Wyoming's direction is up, compared to a 2004 survey.
Fully three-quarters say the state is headed in the right direction, compared with just 19 percent who say it is pretty seriously off on the wrong track. That's a significant boost from statewide polling conducted in 2004, when 61 percent said the state was headed in the right direction.
Conversely, there's been a slight decline in public concern for wildlife, fish and habitat, Hulme said.
"Every day, the Casper Star-Tribune has stories about natural resources, energy development and wildlife," Hulme said. Apparently, the state's economic prosperity translates into less worrying and greater confidence in how things are going.
Then too, voters are hearing about energy companies spending more and more money on habitat mitigation, or the work of the wildlife trust fund.
There was a significant decrease in public concern about a lack of good-paying jobs -- rated as an "extremely" or "very serious" problem by 56 percent in 2004 and just 31 percent today.
About three-fourths of Wyoming voters support authorization of assessing impact fees on developers who build in areas where water, wildlife or working ranches could be affected, according to the poll.
"I was very impressed by the public support for impact fees," Hulme said. "That's a real turn in attitude, against unchecked residential development."
She was also surprised by survey results that indicate a slim majority of voters are willing to pay higher local taxes, to match state funding for wildlife habitat mitigation projects. Both the impact fees and paying higher local taxes run counter to the political tradition of free enterprise with few regulations.
"Can we continue with business as usual?" asked Hulme. Survey results seem to say, "No."
Ag concerns
Jim Magagna, executive vice president of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, said he was surprised by a couple of survey results.
According to the poll, the conservation issues Wyoming voters view as most serious include availability of water (particularly for agricultural purposes), loss of family farms and ranches, and natural areas and ranchlands being split up by development.
For a lot of people, Magagna said, the non-monetary values of open space and an agricultural culture help "make Wyoming Wyoming."
He cautioned against using survey results to advocate policy or budget changes in Wyoming, but recognized that information has value in and of itself. Still, he'd like the Legislature to look at the data and consider support for water development, impact fees and full funding for the wildlife trust fund.
Conservation
Andrea Erickson Quiroz, executive director of the Wyoming chapter of The Nature Conservancy, said she was pleasantly surprised that the Wyoming public is open to using new tools to preserve both family farms and wildlife habitat.
She acknowledged that the ag and conservation communities have clashed in the past over big reservoir projects. "Water projects don't have to be big," she said. It is possible to build low-cost projects that incorporate ecological values such as wetlands and seeps, to benefit both agriculture and wildlife.
Quiroz said partnering with the Stock Growers Association and Ruckelshaus Institute has been a great experience.
"If we can all get on the same page, look out," she said with a laugh.
Hulme said survey results are being shared with decision-makers around the state. More detailed survey results will be released in time for the state legislative session in 2008.