Environmental opinion in the American West

The American West is at center stage in the debate and struggle over environmental protection. The environmental values and attitudes of those living in the Western states-the Far and Intermountain West-should be an important component in this dialogue. This research adopts a state-by-state approach in determining Western environmental opinion and thus supplements the past reliance on national survey subsample analysis. Analyzing dozens of surveys, the study finds that Western proenvironmental opinion is strong, positive, and pervasive. Western environmental values,the urban-rural dichotomy, economic tradeoffs, the issue of wilderness, and support for co-existing and multiple-use are discussed.