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poll results
Texas 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 Texas 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 Texas voters say our country does not have enough permanently protected area in national forests (53 percent). In contrast, only 6 percent say we have too much permanently protected area. Thirty-one percent of voters believe our country has the right amount of protected area in national forests and 10 percent are unsure. While there are some differences in margin, pluralities of almost every group believe there is not enough land protected
- Majorities of both men and women are slightly more likely to believe our country does not have enough permanently protected area in national forests (55 percent and 51 percent, respectively). Younger voters (57 percent) especially voters under 30 (68 percent) are more likely than older voters to believe there are not enough protected areas in national forests (48 percent). Likewise, majorities of both college and non-college educated voters say there is not enough protected areas in national forests (51 percent and 56 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 (42 percent). Solid majorities of both Democrats and Independents believe there is not enough protected area (62 percent and 56 percent, respectively)
Although a majority of Texas voters say there is not enough permanently protected areas in National Forests, they are less likely to believe there is not enough areas than voters nationwide . Sixty-three percent of voters nationwide say the United States does not have enough permanently protected areas in National Forests (10 points more than Texas voters). While only 6 percent of voters nationwide say the United States has too much protected area, just under a quarter of voters nationwide say the country has the right amount (23 percent) and 8 percent say they don't know.
Furthermore, two-thirds of Texas 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 (66 percent). Of those who favor the proposal, 41 percent say they are strongly in favor. Less than two in ten voters oppose this proposal (18 percent; 7 percent strongly oppose). However, almost equal numbers of voters are undecided on whether they favor or oppose the proposal (16 percent).
- At least half of 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 an evident gender gap. Seventy percent of women favor a proposal that permanently protects all roadless areas of 1,000 acres (46 percent strongly favor), compared to 62 percent of men (36 percent strongly favor).
- Geographically, small city voters are the most likely to favor a proposal to protect all roadless areas on national forest lands (72 percent favor; 49 percent strongly favor), while rural voters are the least favorable (52 percent favor, 29 percent strongly favor). There is strong bipartisan support with 72 percent of Democrats, 68 percent of Independents, and 69 percent of Republicans in favor.
- Overall, the most intensely favorable are unmarried women (55 percent strongly favor), Democratic women (53 percent), mothers of children ages 18 and under (52 percent), small city voters (49 percent) -- especially women in small cities (56 percent), college educated women (49 percent), older Democrats (48 percent), younger college educated voters (48 percent), women living in big cities (48 percent), voters living in the western region (48 percent), voters under 30 (47 percent), older women (47 percent), college educated voters (47 percent), fathers of children ages 18 and under (46 percent), white women (46 percent), unmarried younger voters (46 percent), and women overall (46 percent).
Texas voters are nearly equal in their support for a proposal to permanently protect all roadless areas of a 1,000 acres and larger on all National Forest lands to voters nationwide . Much like Texas voters, slightly more than six in ten voters nationwide favor a proposal to protect all roadless areas (63 percent). However, voters nationwide are slightly more intensely favorable than Texas voters -- 48 percent strongly in favor nationwide compared to 41 percent of Texas voters who are strongly in favor. Additionally, 17 percent of voters nationwide oppose the proposal (10 percent strongly oppose) and 20 percent are undecided.
Additionally, Texas voters favor all of the specific provisions of the proposal. Texans are most favorable toward prohibiting commercial logging in all national forest roadless areas (78 percent favor). In fact, nearly half of voters strong favor this provision of the proposal (48 percent).
- Texas voters are also favorable toward prohibiting oil drilling and exploration in all national forest roadless areas (73 percent; 43 percent strongly favor) , blocking development in all national forest roadless areas (75 percent; 40 percent strongly favor) , and prohibiting off-road vehicle use, including four-by-fours, motorcycles and snowmobiling in all national forest roadless areas (71 percent; 38 percent strongly favor) . While slightly lower in intensity, these three proposals are still supported by over two-thirds of every demographic and political group.
- Not surprisingly, women are more favorable toward all of the specific proposals than men. Likewise, while all three political parties are most favorable toward prohibiting commercial logging, Democrats are generally more favorable toward all of the specific proposals than Independents or Republicans. Additionally, while older voters are particularly favorable toward prohibiting commercial logging in all national forest roadless areas (75 percent), younger voters are divided between prohibiting commercial logging and blocking development in all national forest roadless areas (79 percent and 77 percent, respectively).
Voters nationwide are similar to Texas 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 in all National Forest roadless areas (73 percent favor; 51 percent strongly favor). Much like Texas 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, Texas voters want to see these protections in place across every region of the country. More than two-thirds of voters favor having these protections affect roadless areas across the country, allowing no region to be exempt from the program (68 percent) . This includes 38 percent of voters who strongly favor having geographically uniform protections. However, a quarter of voters oppose having these protections affect all regions (25 percent; 8 percent strongly oppose).
- Strong majorities of every demographic and geographic sub-group in Texas favor uniform protections for roadless areas across the country. Women are slightly more likely than men to favor having these protections affect roadless areas across the country, allowing no region to be exempt from the program (70 percent to 66 percent, respectively). In terms of political party, Democrats are the most likely to favor having these protections uniform across the country (77 percent), followed by Independents and then Republicans (68 percent and 62 percent, respectively).
Similarly, nearly half of Texas voters oppose exempting some regions, such as coastal rainforests in Alaska or the ancient rainforests of the Pacific Northwest (46 percent), including 23 percent who strongly oppose. However, 41 percent favor the regional exemptions (17 percent strongly favor). Notably, 13 percent of voters are unsure. For every subgroup, more people support a uniform national program with no exemptions than favor exempting some regions.
However, Texas voters are overall less likely and less intense than voters nationwide to favor uniform protections . Three-quarters of voters nationwide favor having these protections affect roadless areas across the country, allowing no region to be exempt from the program (75 percent; 7 points higher than Texas voters). Furthermore, voters nationwide are more intense in their support of uniform protections than Texas voters -- 53 percent of voters nationwide strongly favor having geographically uniform protections compared to 38 percent of Texas voters. Less than two in ten voters nationwide oppose having these protections affect all regions (15 percent; 8 percent strongly oppose) and 10 percent are undecided.
Moreover, much like Texas voters, voters nationwide are divided as to whether some regions should be exempted from these protections . 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.
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