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New Hampshire Summary

Lake Snell Perry & Associates designed and administered this survey. The survey was conducted by phone using professional interviewers. The survey reached 600 registered voters in the state of New Hampshire who indicated they are likely to vote in the 2000 general election for President and other offices. The interviews were conducted October 10 to 13, 1999, and the margin of sampling error is +/-4.0%.

·After being informed that 18 percent of the land in the United States' national forests is permanently protected from logging and other development, more than half of New Hampshire voters say our country does not have enough permanently protected area in national forests (56 percent). In contrast, only 5 percent say we have too much permanently protected area. Thirty-four percent of voters believe our country has the right amount of protected area in national forests and 5 percent are unsure.

·Majorities of both men and women in New Hampshire believe that our country does not have enough permanently protected area in national forests (54 percent and 58 percent, respectively). Younger voters (59 percent) - especially voters under 30 (70 percent) - are more likely than older voters to believe there are not enough protected areas in national forests (53 percent). Likewise, majorities of both college and non-college educated voters say there is not enough protected areas in national forests (56 percent and 55 percent, respectively).

·There is some difference by party. Republicans are the least likely to believe there are not enough permanently protected areas in national forests, with a plurality who say not enough (48 percent). In contrast, strong majorities of both Democrats and Independents believe there is not enough protected area (62 percent for both).

·Notably, New Hampshire voters are slightly less likely to believe there is not enough permanently protected areas in National Forests than voters nationwide . Sixty-three percent of voters nationwide say the United States does not have enough permanently protected areas in National Forests (7 points more than New Hampshire voters). While only 6 percent of voters nationwide say the United States has too much protected area, just under a quarter of voters say the country has the right amount (23 percent) and 8 percent of voters nationwide say they don't know.

·Furthermore, almost three-quarters of New Hampshire voters favor a proposal that permanently protects all roadless areas of 1,000 acres and larger on all national forest lands, from road building, off-road vehicles, mining, oil drilling and other development (72 percent). Of those who favor the proposal, 41 percent say they are strongly in favor. Less than two in ten voters oppose this proposal (16 percent; 5 percent strongly oppose). Twelve percent of voters are undecided as to whether they favor or oppose the proposal.

·At least six out of ten New Hampshire voters across all demographic and geographic sub-groups favor a proposal that permanently protects all roadless areas of 1,000 acres and larger on all national forest lands, from road building, off-road vehicles, mining, oil drilling and other development. Again, while majorities across gender support the proposal, there is a gender gap evident with women more favorable than men. Seventy-six percent of women favor a proposal that permanently protects all roadless areas of 1,000 acres (46 percent strongly favor), compared to 68 percent of men (36 percent strongly favor).

·Politically, Democrats are most favorable toward protecting all roadless lands (80 percent; 49 percent strongly favor), followed by Independents (74 percent; 45 percent strongly favor) and then Republicans (65 percent; 33 percent strongly favor). Geographically, voters in Southern New Hampshire (74 percent; 42 percent strongly favor) are much more favorable toward this proposal than are voters in the Central region (59 percent; 35 percent strongly favor).

·Overall, the most intensely favorable are voters under 30 (54 percent very favorable), Democratic women voters (53 percent), mothers of children ages 18 and under (51 percent), Independent women (50 percent), and younger women (49 percent).

·Notably, New Hampshire voters are more likely to favor a proposal to permanently protect all roadless areas of 1,000 acres or larger on National Forest lands than voters nationwide . Just under two-thirds of voters nationwide favor the proposal to protect roadless areas (63 percent -- 9 points less than New Hampshire voters), with 48 percent strongly in favor. Seventeen percent of voters nationwide oppose the proposal (10 percent strongly oppose). However, voters nationwide are more likely to be undecided about the proposal - 20 percent nationwide compared to 12 percent of New Hampshire voters.

·Additionally, New Hampshire voters strongly favor all of the specific provisions of the proposal. New Hampshire voters are most intensely favorable toward prohibiting commercial logging in all national forest roadless areas (78 percent favor; 48 percent strongly favor) and prohibiting oil drilling and exploration in all national forest roadless areas (76 percent; 49 percent strongly favor)

• New Hampshire voters are also favorable toward blocking development in all national forest roadless areas (80 percent favor; 45 percent strongly favor) and prohibiting off-road vehicle use, including four-by-fours, motorcycles and snowmobiling in all national forest roadless areas (70 percent; 41 percent strongly favor) . While slightly lower in intensity, these two proposals are still supported by at least two-thirds of every demographic and political sub-group.
• Women are significantly more favorable toward all of the specific proposals than men. Likewise, Democrats are generally more favorable toward all of the specific proposals than Independents or Republicans. Moreover, Independents rank as most intense prohibiting oil drilling from the Refuge, while Republicans and Democrats rank as most intense prohibiting commercial logging.
• Additionally, while older voters are particularly favorable toward blocking development (77 percent), younger voters are divided between prohibiting commercial logging and blocking development in all national forest roadless areas (83 percent for both).

Voters nationwide are similar to New Hampshire voters in favoring all of the specific provisions of the proposal, and in the provisions they are most intensely favorable toward: prohibiting oil drilling (56 percent strongly favor; 77 percent favor) and logging (53 percent strongly favor; 75 percent favor). Voters nationwide also favor a proposal which would block development (73 percent favor; 51 percent strongly favor). Much like New Hampshire voters, voters nationwide are least intensely favorable toward a proposal banning off-road vehicles in National Forest roadless areas. However, two-thirds of voters nationwide still favor the proposal which would prohibit off-road vehicle use in all National Forest roadless areas (67 percent favor; 44 percent strongly favor) .

Moreover, New Hampshire voters want to see these protections in place across every region of the country. More than seven out of ten voters favor having these protections affect roadless areas across the country, allowing no region to be exempt from the program (71 percent) . This includes 40 percent of voters who strongly favor having geographically uniform protections. Twenty percent of voters oppose having these protections affect all regions (6 percent strongly oppose) and 9 percent are undecided.

• Strong majorities of every demographic and geographic sub-group in New Hampshire favor uniform protections for roadless areas across the country. Women, however, are more likely than men to favor having these protections affect roadless areas across the country, allowing no region to be exempt from the program (75 percent favor; 46 percent strongly favor to 67 percent favor; 33 percent strongly favor, respectively). In terms of political party, Democrats are the most likely to favor having these protections uniform across the country (79 percent favor; 42 percent strongly favor), followed by Independents and then Republicans (69 percent favor; 46 percent strongly favor and 67 percent favor; 32 percent strongly favor, respectively).

Similarly, a majority of voters oppose exempting some regions, such as coastal rainforests in Alaska or the ancient rainforests of the Pacific Northwest (54 percent), including 29 percent who strongly oppose. Only 31 percent favor the regional exemptions (14 percent strongly favor). Notably, 15 percent of voters are unsure.

• For every sub-group, more people support a uniform national program with no exemptions than favor a exempting some regions. However, those most likely to intensely favor exempting some regions are older men (23 percent strongly favor), non-college educated men (20 percent strongly favor), and Democrats (19 percent strongly favor).

Notably, voters nationwide are more intensely favorable toward putting protections in place across every region of the country than New Hampshire voters . A similar majority of voters nationwide favor having these protections affect roadless areas across the country, allowing no region to be exempt from the program (75 percent). However, 53 percent of voters nationwide strongly favor having geographically uniform protections, compared to 40 percent of New Hampshire voters who are strongly favorable. Just under two in ten voters nationwide oppose having these protections affect all regions (15 percent; 8 percent strongly oppose) and 10 percent are undecided.

However, New Hampshire voters are more likely to oppose exempting some regions than voters nationwide . Voters nationwide are divided in their feelings about this proposal. A plurality of voters nationwide oppose exempting regions, such as coastal rainforests in Alaska or the ancient rainforests of the Pacific Northwest (45 percent oppose; 33 percent strongly oppose), compared 42 percent of voters nationwide who favor the proposal (22 percent strongly favor). Twelve percent of voters nationwide are undecided about the proposal.

Funding provided by:
The Pew Charitable Trust
The W. Alton Jones Foundation
The Turner Foundation.

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