Survey: Montanans increasingly concerned over public land access, sales

Montana voters are increasingly concerned over access to public lands, and a vast majority — 84% — support banning the sale or transfer of public lands.

That’s according to the 2026 Voter Survey on Public Lands commissioned by the University of Montana’s Crown of the Continent and Greater Yellowstone Initiative and released on April 22. The biennial survey has tracked how residents think about public land and natural resource issues since 2014.

“Since this poll began a dozen years ago, Montanans’ interest in protecting public lands has only grown stronger,” UM initiative director Rick Graetz said in a statement. “Bipartisan support for conservation is undeniable and deeply rooted. Wherever I go in Montana, I hear from people wanting to safeguard their quality of life and their freedom to visit public lands and waters. There is no appetite for sell-off or industrialization of public lands here and that clearly shows in the data.”

The bipartisan survey was conducted by Republican pollster New Bridge Strategy and Democratic pollster FM3 Research.

Compared to 2022, there was a 30-point increase in poll respondents who said loss of access to public lands is an extremely or very serious problem.

The potential sell-off of national public lands became a flashpoint in Congress last year when proposals to sell off sections of federal land were initially included in President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill.” Montana’s federal delegation, all Republicans, became key figures in removing those provisions and taking a stand against their caucus.

Support from Montana voters for a ban against the sale or transfer of most public lands such as National Forest to private interests or other government entities saw support cut across party lines, according to the poll results.

Four-in-five Republicans and Independents said they would support a ban, and 90% of self-identified Democrats said they supported such a ban — with 84% strongly supporting one.

“Over the last 12 years Montanans of all political affiliations have consistently told us that they consider public lands and access to them as a foundational issue when considering their support for office holders,” Republican pollster Lori Weigel said in a press release. “A consistent theme is Montana voters continue to value public lands as an economic driver in the state and reject efforts to divert funds or downgrade protections.”

Across the board, the biennial poll has shown that Montanans highly support conservation initiatives in all iterations, with 82% of Republicans, 92% of independents, and 99% of Democrats saying conservation issues are somewhat or very important when considering who to vote for in an election — among the highest numbers in the poll’s 12 years.

The poll also found voters are increasingly concerned about low snowpack and drought, with the percentage of respondents who said the issues are very or extremely serious jumping 18% and 17% respectively since 2024 to three-quarters of voters.

One poll question asked how voters viewed the idea of data center construction in Montana and how that might affect their future. While 40% of voters said they thought it would have a positive effect on the state’s economy, compared to 35% who foresee negative impacts, most respondents said they believe data centers would negatively impact the price of electricity (76%), the reliability of the electric grid (68%) and the availability of water (69%).

There are currently 11 data center developers in talks with the state’s monopoly utility, NorthWestern Energy.

Graetz isn’t surprised to see support for conservation issues continuing to grow in Montana, but he said he feels there is increasingly a disconnect between voter sentiment on the ground and the public officials they elect.

“Every year most Republicans and Democrats are pretty close to even on caring about open space, about protecting the wilderness study areas, and I get around the state and do programs, and I have to tell you it’s the same thing we hear about in the poll — people love this state,” Graetz said in a phone interview with the Daily Montanan. “It doesn’t matter if they’re radical right or radical left, they give a damn about public spaces. “

While voters have more than just conservation issues to consider at the polling booth, many votes by the state’s delegation directly contradict the findings in these surveys, Graetz continued.

One example is Montana’s severn wilderness study areas — U.S. Forest Service land that was set aside for consideration to become federal wilderness, but never was actually designated. The areas maintain robust access for hunters, hikers, grazing and some motorized and biking use, but do not allow mining, drilling or logging.

The survey has shown a 10-point jump in support for increasing protections in the wilderness study areas, with a total of 74% of respondents saying protections should be maintained or increased. Just 7% of respondents said they favored eliminating the protections.

But Montana’s delegation, led by Sens. Steve Daines and Tim Sheehy and Rep. Troy Downing, is pushing a bill, called the “Montana Sportsmen Conservation Act,” which would remove protections from three areas — the Middle Fork Judith, Hoodoo Mountain, and Wales Creek.

The bill recently cleared a committee hearing and Daines called it “common sense.”

“It unlocks land that’s overdue for release from restrictive wilderness study area status to increase access for outdoor recreation, forest management, and wildfire mitigation,” Daines, who is retiring from Congress this year, said in a press release. “I am glad to see it pass committee, and I’ll keep fighting to get it across the finish line.”

Graetz said politicians from Montana used to be more bipartisan in their dealings and said Daines has a “bad record” on a lot of conservation issues, and preserving wilderness study area protections should be an easier sell for public officials.

“It’s almost impossible today to get any big W’s anymore,” Graetz said. “We’re not going to get anymore Bob Marshalls or Rattlesnakes, so the best we can get is those little areas. Keep them as they are, protect them and don’t let people get too mad about it.”

Several more specific initiatives were included in the survey, and all saw record numbers of support.

• 83% of voters support enacting the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Act, which would add existing public land to the Bob Marshall, Scapegoat and Mission Mountains wilderness areas; create two new recreation areas; and sustain timber harvest and habitat restoration.

• 66% oppose speeding up the approval of exploratory mines for rare earth minerals near the headwaters of the Bitterroot River by reducing environmental reviews and local public input.

• 70% of voters support protecting nearly 100 miles of the Madison and Gallatin rivers with Wild and Scenic River designations. (Zinke introduced this legislation last year, but it has no cosponsors and has had no actions taken since August.)

• A record 87% of voters say they support a president using the Antiquities Act to enact the highest protections for public lands such as national monuments.

• 80% support keeping the current Roadless Rule, prohibiting road construction in key areas of undeveloped national forest land intact.

• 76% think corner crossing (stepping from one public parcel of land to a diagonally adjacent public parcel) should be legal. Doing so has been ruled legal by some federal courts, but remains unlawful in Montana.

The same pollsters also conduct the annual Conservation in the West poll.

The 2026 statewide Public Lands Survey polled 515 registered voters by phone and online between March 19-25. The poll’s effective margin of error is ±4.32% at the 95% confidence interval.

The full survey results and a summary presentation are available at the Crown of the Continent and Greater Yellowstone Initiative website.