Voters in Arizona and across the West are increasingly concerned about the effects of climate change on the natural beauty of the Rocky Mountains. That’s the main message of Colorado College’s 12th Annual Western Conservation Survey.
The poll found voters in Eight western states along the Continental Divide are concerned about issues such as drought, insufficient water supplies, wildfires, and the loss of wildlife habitats and natural areas.
Surveyor and director of the New Bridge Strategy firm, Lori Weigel, said most of the 3,400 people surveyed said they feared for the future of the earth.
“Climate change was the main reason people were telling us they were feeling pessimistic,” Weigel said. “I have no doubt that a majority in every state told us that they felt more worried than more optimistic when thinking about the future of nature.”
In Arizona, nearly 70% of respondents shared this concern. And 84% of Arizonans said politicians’ stance on the environment is either “important or very important” in determining whether they support a candidate in an election.
Pollster and director and chairman of Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates – Dave Metz – said public officials pay great attention to the annual survey when making decisions on conservation issues.
He said the survey gives lawmakers a clearer view of how most people feel, as opposed to a small group that may be passionate about a particular issue.
“That little vocal group can sometimes have an outsized presence in an elected official’s mind,” Metz said. “And the poll can sometimes say, ‘No, it’s not – that in fact there is a different opinion that may not be shared as vocally but is widely held. “”
Metz said water is a top concern, with drought and reduced snowfall driving the highest levels of anxiety. Other issues included more frequent and severe wildfires, air quality, extreme heat and severe weather.
Pollsters say they went the extra mile this year to include Native Americans and people of color, oversampling several groups to gauge their concerns.
Shanna Edberg, director of conservation programs for the Hispanic Access Foundation, said marginalized communities are often the most impacted by the climate.
“Latinos have this clear vision of the way forward to protect the environment,” Edberg said, “because it’s Latino health, homes, and jobs that are largely at stake. When Latino children are two times more likely than white children to die from asthma, reducing air pollution is a matter of life and death for our communities.”
The full results of the Conservation in the West poll are online at ‘ColoradoCollege.edu.’
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The autopsy began on the New Mexico legislative session that ended last week. Conservation groups admit much more needs to be done, but they tout a few programs they say will be important to state residents.
A 10 million dollars pilot project to support energy efficiency improvements in low-income housing was passed, as was a bill requiring a statewide effort to clean up and rehabilitate former uranium mines and mills.
Joe Zupan, executive director of water protection group Amigos Bravos, hoped more money would be allocated to fund the Water Data Act.
“The 2019 legislature passed unanimously in both houses, but we didn’t really give it funding,” Zupan explained. “So everyone agrees there’s a priority for water in New Mexico, but it kind of gets lost in the mess.”
The governor had championed a bill to turn New Mexico into a hub for hydrogen production. Proponents said it would create jobs, boost the economy and help the state move closer to its climate goals. Environmental groups opposed the bill because hydrogen is fossil fuel-based, and it ultimately failed.
Zupan hopes that in next year’s session, policymakers can take a closer look at easily overturned water protections. During the Trump administration, protections for intermittent or transient flows were removed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), allowing more releases of fertilizers, pesticides and industrial chemicals.
Zupan pointed out that this left the state’s streams and rivers at risk.
“It’s like over 90 percent of New Mexico’s rivers and streams suddenly lose their protection because in the desert southwest they’re all intermittent or ephemeral,” Zupan noted. “It was a disaster for us.”
New Mexico is one of only three states that does not have a surface water permitting program in place to ensure state waters are protected regardless of decisions made by the EPA.
The US Supreme Court will challenge the Clean Water Act of 1972 later this year. If the naysayers prevail, environmental groups note that New Mexico could once again be in the crosshairs.
Disclosure: Amigos Bravos contributes to our fund for environmental, environmental justice and water reporting. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.
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Wildlife migration routes across the country are in jeopardy, but tribes could get more support from Congress to protect those corridors.
the Tribal Wildlife Corridors Act would send $50 million a year in grants for Native American efforts to improve wildlife habitat.
Shailyn Miller, Wildlife Connectivity Coordinator for the Native American Fish and Wildlife Society, said that animals do not recognize political boundaries. She added that this legislation would ensure they can travel safely across a checkerboard of land, while strengthening tribal sovereignty to manage the corridors.
“The tribes are severely underfunded and at a great disadvantage due to extremely limited resources,” she said, “especially compared to state or federal wildlife agencies.”
Migration corridors are particularly important for big game species such as elk, mule deer and pronghorn. More than 20 nations and tribal organizations have backed the legislation so far. There are 12 federally recognized tribes in Montana.
Miller, who grew up in Montana, said tribes were already working to protect wildlife migration routes, including the Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribes in northwest Montana.
“The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes were one of the first tribes to get involved in wildlife corridor work, beginning in the early 2000s,” she said. “This includes a project that installed wildlife fencing, combined with dozens of wildlife underpasses and one wildlife overpass on tribal lands.”
In the infrastructure investment and job creation act, $350 million has been set aside over five years for the wildlife crossing pilot program. Miller said tribes can also apply for this funding to help supplement their habitat protection work.
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A contest for “Re-Wild the Colorado River” seeks engineering alternatives from the public for the future of Glen Canyon Dam.
Conservation groups have argued for years that the Glen Canyon Dam is no longer useful and should be redesigned to allow the Colorado River to flow freely again along the Arizona-Utah border. Daniel Beard, former commissioner of the US Bureau of Reclamation, said the massive structure had lost its usefulness.
“Due to climate change, the nature and distribution of precipitation in the Colorado River Basin has changed,” he said. “Water is distributed from Lake Mead for a purpose – for the supply of clean water, to meet international commitments, etc. But Glen Canyon has no such purpose.”
The dam was completed in the 1960s for water storage and power generation. Over time, water levels have dropped and the ecology of the river has deteriorated. However, powerful interests, including seven states and the federal government, want the multimillion-dollar structure to stay where it is.
In addition to restoring the proper flow of the river, Beard said, bypassing the Glen Canyon Dam could begin to fill Lake Mead, which is at its lowest level in history.
“Dams are not permanent features of the landscape,” he said. “They change, they deteriorate with age, they silt up – and they outlive their usefulness. And in the case of Glen Canyon Dam, that makes no sense in today’s world.”
Gary Wockner, CEO of Save Coloradoalso a sponsor of the contest, said he hopes the contest can attract sharp minds who produce an elegant solution.
“Ideally,” he said, “engineering students across the United States are on board with the idea of either demolishing the Glen Canyon Dam or digging a tunnel through the Glen Canyon Dam, or to dig a tunnel around the Glen Canyon Dam – a way to make the river flow more freely.”
Along with Beard and Wockner, pageant sponsors include Clark County, Nevada, Commissioner Tick Segerblom, and groups such as the Great Basin water network and living rivers. Organizers said they are also seeking donations to increase the prize fund by the end of the competition in November.
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