Yellowstone: Voters Strongly Support Protecting Park

The wildlife and wilderness of Yellowstone National Park are a resource of global importance, according to an overwhelming majority of voters who see a duty to preserve America’s first national park.

A new telephone and online survey by Rasmussen Reports and NumbersUSA finds that 70% of Likely U.S. Voters believe the United States has a responsibility to the rest of the world to preserve the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem. Only 20% say preserving Yellowstone’s ecosystem is not a matter of global concern, while 10% are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Established in 1872, Yellowstone is America’s oldest national park, encompassing more than 2 million acres mostly in Wyoming, and linked to nearby Grand Teton National Park. Sixty-three percent (63%) of voters are aware that the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem is unique in the Lower 48 States in still having all of its original large wildlife species, including grizzly bears, elk, bison, and wolves, while 27% are not and 10% are not sure.

Thirty-five percent (35%) of voters have visited Yellowstone or Grand Teton national parks and, of those that haven’t, 68% say they’d like to visit the parks. Among voters who either have visited or would like to visit Yellowstone or Grand Teton national parks, 23% say wildlife is the main reason they would visit, while another 51% say wildlife is one of the top two reasons to visit the parks.

“Every year, millions of people from around the globe sojourn to Yellowstone to witness the wonder of the ‘American Serengeti,’” said Jeremy Beck, Vice President of Initiatives for NumbersUSA. “Yellowstone is internationally recognized for its iconic wildlife, geologic wonders, and awe-inspiring landscapes. The United States' first national park is a unifying source of national pride. Strong majorities of Americans across the demographic and political spectrums support the idea that the U.S. has a responsibility to the rest of the world to preserve the greater ecosystem, even if they have never visited the park themselves.”

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The survey of 1,128 U.S. Likely Voters was conducted on July 28-29, 2024, by Rasmussen Reports and NumbersUSA. A separate survey of 829 Likely Voters in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming was conducted on July 28-30, 2024. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Among voters in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, 83% have visited Yellowstone or Grand Tetons National Parks at least once, and the overwhelming majority of voters in the three-state area have visited more than once, including 16% who have visited the parks more than a dozen times. Among Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming voters, 26% say wildlife is the main reason they would visit Yellowstone or Grand Tetons National Parks, while another 53% say wildlife is one of the top two reasons to visit the parks.

Among other findings of the Rasmussen Reports/Numbers USA survey:

– Ninety-five percent (95%) of U.S. Likely Voters say it’s important that large wildlife species continue to survive and flourish in the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem, including 70% who consider it Very Important.

– Forty-five percent (45%) are aware that the vast majority of large mammals in the Yellowstone-Tetons Parks rely upon surrounding private lands to survive during at least part of the year, while 39% were not aware. 

– In recent decades, the population of the private lands of the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem has increased by more than half. The nearly 200,000 additional residents contributed to the development of about 240 square miles of wildlife habitat and farmland. Seventy-four percent (74%) of U.S. voters are concerned about this trend, including 30% who are Very Concerned.

– If recent population growth and development trends continue to 2060, the population of Greater Yellowstone would grow by another 40 percent. Another 360 square miles of wildlife habitat and farmland would be developed to accommodate this growth. Fifty-one percent (51%) believe this would make Greater Yellowstone worse, while just 23% say such growth would make the area better and 16% think it would not make much difference. Another 10% are not sure.

– A study of government data found that most U.S. farmland and natural habitat lost to development in the last decade was related to the country’s population growing by 22 million people. The Census Bureau projects the population will grow by tens of millions more in the next 40 years. Fifty-five percent (55%) believe this type of population growth in their area would make it a worse place to live. Sixteen percent (16%) think population growth would make their area a better place to live and 21% say it would not make much difference.

– The main source of national population growth is immigration from other countries. Fifty-seven percent (57%) of U.S. Likely Voters believe the federal government should reduce annual immigration to slow down population growth, while 28% are OK with keeping immigration and population growth at the current level. Just seven percent (7%) favor increasing annual immigration and population growth.

– Currently the federal government adds about one million legal immigrants to the country each year. Twenty percent (20%) would prefer increasing the annual level of legal immigration over 1.5 million, including 11% who want more than 2 million legal immigrants annually, while 23% prefer maintaining the current level of immigration. However, 45% want annual legal immigration to be below 500,000, including 25% who’d prefer fewer than 100,000 legal immigrants a year. Another 13% are not sure.

– Currently, in addition to the million legal immigrants each year, about 2.5 million inadmissible foreign citizens overstay a visa, avoid the border patrol, or are released into the country every year. In trying to control illegal immigration, 75% believe the government should mandate that all employers use the federal electronic E-Verify system to help ensure that they hire only legal workers for U.S. jobs. Only 10% are opposed to making E-Verify mandatory, and another 15% are not sure.

– One way to accommodate continued population growth in Greater Yellowstone without losing as much natural habitat and farmland to development would be to increase population density by changing zoning and other regulations so more residents live in apartments, condos, and townhouses instead of single-family houses. Fifty-two percent (52%) favor such zoning changes, including 20% who Strongly Favor such changes. Thirty-six percent (36%) are opposed, including 17% who Strongly Oppose zoning changes to limit growth in Greater Yellowstone, while 12% are not sure.

– Zoning, urban growth boundaries, and limiting the number of new hook-ups to sewage treatment systems are examples of planning or “smart growth” tools for accommodating population growth while attempting to reduce new development and sprawl from spreading further into the surrounding countryside. Fifty-three percent (53%) favor using such planning tools as a means of limiting sprawl, while 17% don’t and 30% are not sure.

– Only 17% favor paying higher property taxes to accommodate new residents and residential development into their community, while 70% are opposed to higher property taxes and 13% are not sure.

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Additional information from this survey and a full demographic breakdown are available to the public as well as to Platinum Members.

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