A recent telephone survey of registered voters in Montana finds that a large majority, regardless of region or political affiliation, support continued or increased protections for existing public lands.

The survey, conducted by the University of Montana and released Monday, polled 500 voters from across the state regarding their use of and attitudes toward public lands. It is the fourth survey of its kind conducted by the university since 2014, and found striking consistencies in public opinion toward conservation values.

The survey's complete results can be found on the University of Montana's website under the Crown of the Continent and Greater Yellowstone Initiative subhead. Just click the "Voters Surveys" heading at the left-top corner of the page.

"We see both broad and intense support for a variety of policies designed to conserve public lands," said Dave Metz, partner and president of FM3 Research, one of two polling firms hired to do the survey.

Metz said the 2020 survey's results were remarkably consistent with those from the past, and cuts across different subgroups within Montana's electorate in contrast to the generally polarized condition of current national politics. One consistency that cut easily across party lines is Montanans use of public land.

Nearly half of all respondents, Republican and Democrat, said they had visited public land in Montana 10 or more times in the past year. According to Metz, resident use of public land in Montana is greater than in nearly any other state.

"There is no state in the union, except perhaps Alaska, where we see the same overwhelming numbers of voters participating in outdoor recreational activities," Metz said. "The importance of outdoor recreation for the state's identity and people's quality of life remained central."

Montanan's love for the outdoors translates in to broad appreciation for the positive impact outdoor recreation has on the state's economy. Ninety-eight percent of all survey respondents agreed that outdoor recreation businesses and jobs are an important part of Montana's economy.

"There is almost unanimous recognition that outdoor recreation jobs are important to Montanans," Metz said. "Only 1 in 50 respondents were telling us the presence of those lands is harmful to the economy."

The survey was done during the third week in March, with respondents selected from the state's registered voter list. Respondents were sought out based upon proportional quotas for county and region, as well as for gender and age.

The same questions were asked of both Republicans and Democrats, with separate polling firms assigned to conduct the research depending upon the respondents' political affiliation.

"We use a bipartisan team, both Republican and Democrat pollsters to balance it, and we put an emphasis on measuring trends to check the consistency of our results over time, " said Rick Graetz, survey organizer and director of the university's Crown of the Continent Greater Yellowstone Initiative. "We do not take positions on the results. Our job is to do the studies and get the information out there to help further public discourse and education. People can take from it what they feel they need to."

A majority of respondents from both political parties stated that protections for Wilderness Study Areas in Montana should either remain as they are or be increased. Wilderness Study Areas (WSAs) are places identified by the U.S. Congress as having specific wilderness characteristics, and as potentially eligible for national designation as wilderness areas.

"More Montanans prefer that we either increase protections in these seven specific Wilderness Study Areas, or that we at least maintain the status quo," said Lori Weigel, principal of the research firm New Bridge Strategy. "A mere 8% said we ought to eliminate the standards that are in place in these seven areas. Another 14% thought maybe some should be changed."

"Some partisan distinction (exists), but still, a majority line up no matter their partisan affiliation in terms of maintaining the status quo or to increase some of the protections for those seven areas," she added.

Similar preferences were expressed increased conservation measures at the headwaters of the Blackfoot River and for the Badger -- Two Medicine region of the Rocky Mountain Front.

The Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Act is legislation introduced by Montana Sen. Jon Tester that would increase federal protections on 79,000 acres of existing public land adjacent to the Scapegoat Wilderness Area, while keeping the area open for snowmobiling and timber harvests.

"This is one of the areas where we saw strong bipartisan support, with three-quarters of Republicans and more than four in five Democrats supporting that," said Weigel. "Hunters and anglers were one of the strongest supporters of this particular proposal."

Montana's Blackfeet Tribe has proposed a special "Cultural Heritage Area" designation for the 165,000-acre Badger -- Two Medicine region between Glacier National Park and the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex. If enacted, the designation would maintain access to the area for hunters, anglers, hikers and horse traffic, but would be off-limits to oil and gas exploration and motorized use.

Sixty-six percent of Republican respondents and 96% of Democrats expressed support for the Cultural Heritage Area designation. That response included 79% of people who self-identified as off-road vehicle or snowmobile users.

"It's striking that we have four out of five off-road vehicle or snowmobile users," Weigel said of the survey results. "(That's) in large part for the conservation of wildlife habitat."

While some Montana voters who oppose increased conservation on public land may question the neutrality of the survey, Graetz said he stands by the integrity of every report or survey the organizers have ever produced.

"In 2018 we had some people question it," he said. "A political scientist from our rivals; Montana State University, did an independent review of the poll and said all of the questions were very objective, so it has a lot of credibility."

"We're just hoping that our legislators in Montana and in the federal government pay attention to what Montanans want," Graetz said..

David Murray is Natural Resources/Outdoors reporter for the Great Falls Tribune. To contact him with comments or story ideas; email at dmurray@greatfallstribune.com or call (406) 791-6574. To support his work, subscribe today and get a special offer.