PUBLIC SURVEYS

Many surveys are conducted each year across the nation to determine precisely the degree to which the public is in support of conserving and enjoying natural areas. Most are conducted for localities as they struggle to decide whether or not to pay for the conservation measures. Time and again the people across this nation, and here in Hays County, make it clear that conservation is a high priority and that money should be used to conserve. Lou Harris, a leading pollster in the U.S., points out that the need to conserve our natural areas is the one opinion the public holds over time unlike most other opinions.

• Hays County survey conducted in July of 2000.
• Texas Parks and Wildlife, Texas Tech University and Responsive Management Conducted statewide
research to determine attitudes about state parks and services which were published in March of 2001.
• A recent Texas poll conducted by Hill Research for conservation groups.

HAYS COUNTY

A Hays County survey conducted in July of 2000 was in conjunction with a County initiative to place parks and open space bond proposal before Hays County voters in June of 2001 worth $3.5 million. The proposal was approved by 70% of the voters.

The Scripps Howard Texas Poll conducted the survey of county residents. Titled The Hays County Survey of Parks, Recreation and Open Space Survey, it revealed much about what our neighbors think about the subject.

Below is a copy of some text and links to the full documents:

Hays County Park Survey 2000 (pdf) - View Survey html

The survey asked residents a variety of questions regarding parks, recreation and open space. The Scripps Howard Texas Poll conducted the survey from April 24 to June 20, mailing 2,000 questionnaires to a random sample of Hays County residents. A total of 943 residents completed and returned the survey - 47% response rate.

County Involvement

A majority of Hays County residents support the county acquiring, managing and funding parks, and 71 percent are concerned about growth stripping the county of its rural character. Sixty-five percent of residents agree that Hays County should acquire and manage parks, and 61 percent believe parks are a public service that should be funded by the county.

Visits to Parks

The survey also found that Hays County residents enjoy visiting public parks and most residents believe there aren’t enough parks and recreation opportunities in the county.

WHAT DO TEXANS THINK?

Texas Parks and Wildlife, Texas Tech University and Responsive Management Conducted research to determine attitudes about state parks and services which were published in March of 2001. A 39 page executive summary of the survey, Texas Parks and Wildlife for the 21st Century: Executive Overview and Implications of the Public Opinion and Attitude Surveys, can be found at the following link: 2001 TPWD, Tech, Responsive Mngt Survey.

Here is are some highlights from the “Conclusion” (page 36)

Texas Parks and Wildlife is in an enviable but challenging position at the beginning of the new millennium. On one hand, TPW finds its mission and programs supported by the vast majority of Texans. Overall, Texans care deeply about the state’s natural and cultural resources as well as the outdoor recreation opportunities the Texas landscape provides. However, TPW faces major resource management challenges resulting from skyrocketing human population growth. These challenges include loss and fragmentation of habitat, degradation and increased competition for limited water resources and increases in total numbers of outdoor recreationists due to an ever-increasing number of Texans.

Perhaps internationally famed pollster Lou Harris summed it up best in a paper presented at the 50th North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference. Mr. Harris stated that his experience with polling on natural resource and environmental matters “has almost a strange and eerie experience over the past several years” because on many other issues, public opinion tends to swing back and forth. However, on natural resource and environmental issues, the public has been shifting in only one direction. Mr. Harris concluded his paper, stating: “Basically, what people are asking and pleading and demanding out there is that there be a new wave of commitment by those who purport to speak for the people, who speak the words that they care about the quality of the human experience. The challenge is to the leadership to catch up with the governed. To catch up now, not later, before it is too late.”

A RECENT TEXAS POLL

A recent Texas poll conducted by Hill Research for the Texas Coalition for Conservation, The Trust for Public Land (sponsor of a similar 1999 poll), and The Nature Conservancy revealed the consistency and the strength of citizen support for parks and open space. Below are some highlights from the “News” page of the Texas Coalition for Conservation which provides a summary of the poll results. Learn more at TX Coalition for Conservation.

Hill said that the survey found that Texans hold basic values that are decidedly pro-conservation. “We measured some of these values by asking voters to say whether they agreed or disagreed with a battery of statements,” he said. “The results indicate that Texans place a great emphasis on protecting all things natural and that Texans feel some sense of urgency for the task.”
Hill pointed particularly to Texans responses to two questions:

• 90% of the voters polled agreed that, “All of God's creations deserve protection, including our wildlife, land, water, animal habitats, and other natural areas.”

• 77% agreed that, “If state leaders don't purchase and protect some of Texas' natural areas today, they will be lost forever to development.”

“The remarkable consistency of these attitudes across time suggests that we are measuring long term values rather than fleeting opinions,” said Hill, noting that the percentage of those who agree with the statements is even higher than in the 1999 poll. “These values are so well internalized that they are likely to influence public opinion far into the future.”

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