Poll Suggests Alaskans Want Protection For Tongass

The following is courtesy of Citizens for the Republic:

Alexandria, VA– Prominent conservative polling firm Baselice & Associates, Inc., which has previously polled for the Trump/Pence campaign, conducted a new survey of voters in the state of Alaska, regarding the proposed lifting of the Roadless Rule throughout the currently protected Tongass National Forest.

The poll was commissioned by Citizens for the Republic, the organization founded by Ronald Reagan, which promotes the principles of limited government, maximum freedom, personal responsibility, peace through strength, and defense of the dignity of every individual.  The poll comes in response to a proposal by the U.S. Forest Service to fully exempt the Tongass National Forest from the protections of the roadless rule. The public comment period on this proposal ended in mid-December.

A plurality (49%) of Alaskans oppose exempting the entire Tongass National Forest in Alaska from the protections of the Roadless Rule, which would allow more commercial logging and construction of new logging roads in these Roadless areas. Only 43% are in favor of the proposal by the U.S. Forest Service to fully eliminate these protections on the forest.

The survey was conducted among of N = 300 registered voters Alaska on January 28-29, 2020. The margin of error to the results of this survey is +/- 5.7% at the .95 confidence level. Sixty-two percent of respondents were interviewed on their cell phones and 38% were interviewed on their landline phones. 38% of survey respondents live in the northern region of Alaska, 40% in Anchorage, and 22% in the southern region of Alaska.

Of those surveyed, 61% identified as frequent hunters and/or fishers, with 10% asserting that they hunt/fish several times a month. Of those who hunt/fish several times a month, a majority, (48%), voiced opposition to exempting the Tongass National Forest from the Roadless Rule, with only 32% approval. The exemption of the Tongass National Forest from the Roadless Rule would significantly impact and restrict the hunting/fishing community of Alaska and disrupt the state’s recreational economy.

An issue that has previously divided the GOP, the poll shows new results among voters who agree that the protection of the Tongass National Forest is crucial in maintaining economic prosperity and individual freedoms in the state of Alaska.

The poll found that an overwhelming 74% of those surveyed agreed with the following statement:

“Our national forests belong to all of us, not large corporations and their lobbyists. We need to protect the Tongass National Forest to ensure that future generations can enjoy the freedom and peacefulness they provide, not sell them off for profit.”

Of those polled, 31% were registered as Republican, 15% registered as Democrat, 23% as Undeclared, and 16% as Independent. Sixty-nine percent (69%) of those surveyed were Anglo/White, 13% were Alaskan/Native American, 2% Asian, 2% African American, and 9% identified as Other.

Mike Baselice, founder of Baselice & Associates, Inc., and respected conservative pollster, had the following comments on the results of the poll, “Three out of four Alaska voters are clear in their desire to protect the Tongass National Forest. This starts with voters’ opposition to exempting the Tongass National Forest from the protections of the Roadless Rule.”

Ron Maxwell, famed director of Gettysburg, Gods and Generals, and Copperhead, and conservationist spokesperson for Citizens for the Republic’s campaign to protect the Tongass, responded to the poll results, “These poll results reflect the sentiment of not just Alaska, but the American people as a whole, as conservation of our natural land moves to the forefront of political and public concern. We must maintain the Roadless Rule to protect our American heritage and freedoms.”