New Poll Shows Strong Support for Wolves

Endangered Species Act Summary

This study was commissioned by the Endangered Species Coalition and conducted by Harris Interactive, using the Harris Poll National Quorum®. A total of 1,009 telephone surveys were conducted among adults aged 18 and over within the United States between February 16th to 20th, 2011. Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region, number of adults in the household, and number of phone lines in the household were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population.

In this summary, statistical testing was conducted between regions and between party ID. Uppercase letters indicate significant differences between the subgroups at the 95% confidence level.

Summary of Findings

• Overall, there is strong support for the Endangered Species Act (84%), with Democrats having the strongest support (93%).
• Most Americans believe the ESA is a safety net providing balanced solutions to save wildlife, plants and fish that are at risk of extinction (64%), with Democrats the most likely to believe this (76%).
  • While the majority of Republicans also believe the ESA is a safety net (49%), they are more likely than those who support other parts to believe the ESA is used by environmentalists and their lawyers to hinder growth and progress (43%).
• The majority of Americans believe decisions about whether to remove the Endangered Species Act’s protections should be based on science, not politics (63%).
• The majority of Americans agree that:
  • Decisions about wildlife management and which animals need protection should be made by scientists, not politicians (92%);
  • The ESA has helped hundreds of species recover from the brink of extinction 90%);
  • The gray wolf is a vital part of America’s wilderness and natural heritage (87%);
  • The ESA is a successful safety net for protecting wildlife, plants, and fish from extinction (87%); and,
  • The ongoing recovery of gray wolves in the Northern Rockies could be one of America’s greatest wildlife success stories if the Endangered Species Act is kept in place until the states have science-based management plans approved (78%).

Read more at stopextinction.org.