Utah Voters Strongly Support Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante, Poll Shows

 by Tim Peterson, Cultural Landscapes Director

Few things unite Utahns like their support for their national public lands.

A December 2024 poll of 500 registered voters in the beehive state by Republican public opinion research firm New Bridge Strategy shows that Utahns get out onto their national public lands frequently, and in very high numbers.

The survey also confirms, yet again, that Utah voters overwhelmingly support national monuments in general, and Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in particular (71% and 74%, respectively), and this support is strong across political parties and demographics. Importantly, the poll also reveals that nearly nine in 10 Utah voters support a central role for Native American tribes in managing their ancestral lands. Here's a look at the poll's key findings.

SEE FOR YOURSELF
View a slide deck of the poll's key findings ›
Read an overview of the poll's key findings in a memo from the polling firm ›

Utah voters spend a lot of time on national public lands

The poll found that 87% of Utah voters have visited national public lands in the past year and that more than one-third say they have visited five or more times in the past year. Given all that time outside, enjoying and connecting with national public lands, it's not surprising that Utahns feel strongly about protecting these lands.

Utah voters strongly support national monuments

A supermajority of 71% of Utah voters support keeping Bears Ears protected as a national monument and 74% support keeping Grand Staircase-Escalante protected as a national monument. And fully three-fourths (75%) of Utah voters support presidents' ability to protect public lands as national monuments, including 98% of Democrats, 82% of Independents, and 65% of Republicans. 

Since 1906, presidents of both parties have used the Antiquities Act to protect existing national public lands as national monuments. Utahns recognize the importance of protecting history on national public lands, with a staggering 97% categorizing protecting historic sites such as Native American petroglyphs, cliff dwellings, or pioneer artifacts as a priority on these lands.

Utah voters support Native American co-stewardship of ancestral lands

When Bears Ears National Monument was designated in 2016 at the request of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, it represented a historic step — the first time Native American tribes had successfully advocated for the protection of their ancestral lands as a national monument. Since that time, Bears Ears has become an example of tribal co-stewardship where tribal nations help to manage their ancestral lands through a cooperative agreement. This is an important evolution of public lands policy and Utahns overwhelmingly support it, the poll shows.

Nearly nine in 10 Utah voters (89%) say it is very important for Native American tribes to have a strong role in managing their ancestral lands and more than four in five voters (81%) say the next administration should keep the agreement with tribes regarding how Bears Ears is managed.

Amid speculation that the incoming administration might attempt to slash Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, like back in 2017, this survey demonstrates that public support for monuments remains strong across the political spectrum. Any attempt to attack the monuments would therefore be out of step with what Utah voters want and deeply unpopular in the state. 

Utahns love their national monuments and their national public lands. At a time when the state and the country appear so divided on so many issues, it's important to remember that when it comes to public lands, Utah voters are united in their desire to see these lands continue to be protected and stewarded for future generations.

At a time when political leaders nationally and locally are promising "greatness" and "abundance," the path for Bears Ears and Grand Staircase is clear, and it doesn’t even need intervention. This could be an easy win for politicians –— respect the voters and leave these national monuments intact.