Elk NetworkPoll: Wyoming Residents Support Wildlife and Migration Corridors

General | July 10, 2019

Findings from a new poll conducted by the University of Wyoming show respondents support a range of policy actions related to the conservation of big-game migration corridors.

“These results show that Wyoming voters support a range of policies to maintain big-game migration corridors,” says Drew Bennett, Whitney MacMillan University of Wyoming professor in the Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources. “Voters overwhelmingly support actions such as constructing new overpasses to allow animals to cross highways in key areas and clearly recognize the human safety and economic benefits these structures provide from reducing vehicle collisions.”

Results indicate that wildlife is very important to residents’ quality of life and to Wyoming’s economy, and that declines in big-game populations are perceived as an extremely or very serious problem by a majority of respondents. Highways and development were found to pose the greatest perceived threat to big-game migration. Focus group participants, in particular, emphasized the need for an approach to conserving migration corridors that balances wildlife needs with Wyoming’s economy.

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(Photo source: Wyoming Game and Fish Department)