UI poll finds Idahoans support livestock grazing on public lands

A new statewide poll found that 89 percent of Idaho residents approve of livestock grazing as a legitimate practice on public lands, and 85 percent support it as an appropriate use along with hiking, camping, mountain biking, horseback riding, fishing and hunting. The statewide telephone poll of 618 Idaho households was conducted by the University of Idaho Social Science Research Unit for the Idaho Rangeland Resource Commission (IRRC) in December. It is a statistically valid poll that sampled a broad cross-section of Idaho's rural and urban residents, an equal number of males and females, people from different political persuasions, and mobile phone users as well as landline users. The poll has an accuracy rating of 96 percent. IRRC officials said they commissioned the poll to understand the overall perception of Idaho residents about grazing, and how those perceptions might be evolving due to changes in Idaho's population demographics and the emergence of the "New West." IRRC officials released the poll today to foreshadow a program sponsored by the Idaho Environmental Forum called "Ranching in the 21st Century" at noon Thursday at the Owyhee Plaza Hotel in Boise. The event is open to the public. Despite the major population growth that Idaho has experienced over the last decade, public support for livestock grazing on public lands has remained steady, and newer residents support livestock grazing just as strongly as long-time Idaho residents or native Idahoans, the poll found...more