New Poll Shows American Public, Hunters Largely United on National Park Wildlife Protection

WASHINGTON – New national poll data shows the American public as well as hunters are largely united in their support for wildlife protection in national parks and on public lands across the country. The National Parks Conservation Association poll, (NPCA) conducted by YouGov from June 9-22, 2026, among 1,000 Americans and 300 hunters, examined perspectives related to new Trump administration regulations for hunting in some national parks; the Endangered Species Act; Congressional investments tolink text reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions in park landscapes; and other threats to park wildlife populations.

Results found that American hunters and the general American public are closely aligned on a variety of national park wildlife conservation issues, including:

• An overwhelming 90% of Americans (89% Republicans, 92% Democrats, 90% Independents) and 89% of American hunters agree the National Park Service should provide explanations for changes to hunting and trapping rule changes in national parks, such as opening new areas to hunting or expanding huntable species.

• 86% of American hunters and 84% of Americans (80% Republicans, 90% Democrats, 83% Independents) say it is at least somewhat important that they have the opportunity to comment any changes to hunting and trapping regulations on national park lands.

• 85% of Americans (85% Republicans, 84% Democrats, 88% Independents) and 82% of American hunters agree the Endangered Species Act is important for protecting the more than 600 threatened and endangered species that call the national parks home.

• 81% of Americans (82% Republicans, 82% Democrats, 78 Independents) and 80% of American hunters support continued congressional investment in wildlife crossings to protect motorists and wildlife and reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions.

Report

National Poll Shows American Public, Hunters Largely United on National Park Wildlife Protection

The NPCA poll, conducted by YouGov among 1,000 Americans and 300 hunters, examined perspectives related to new Trump administration regulations for hunting in some national parks; the Endangered Species Act;…

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“The results all point in the same direction: Americans and American hunters care deeply about conserving park wildlife regardless of political party,” said Bart Melton, senior wildlife program director for National Parks Conservation Association. “Dig deeper in the data and you’ll see that Americans across the political spectrum want government decision making to be more transparent. Against both these measures, the federal government is currently failing. From the recent decisions to rollback Endangered Species Act protections in favor of industrial interests to expanding hunting in national parks without appropriate public input, the administration is going against a bipartisan majority.”

Threats to national park wildlife have amplified under this administration, which has used Secretarial Orders to open more parklands to hunting, without proper public involvement. Other actions include the Trump Administration’s use of the Endangered Species Committee to permanently remove regulations that protected at risk wildlife from oil and gas impacts in the Gulf, recently released regulations that would drastically weaken the Endangered Species Act; and the rollback of rules and regulations that prevent the destruction of wildlife habitat on national park adjacent national forests and other public lands.

Congress is also considering its next transportation funding package, which could include investments such as making the Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program (WCPP) permanent. Each year an estimated 1-2 million collisions with large species result in close to 27,000+ human injuries and 200 fatalities. These accidents add up to $8 billion in costs to Americans.

Additional polling highlights from the general public include:

• 68% of Americans (53% Republicans, 85% Democrats, 67% Independents) oppose the U.S. Forest Service removing environmental reviews—such as impacts to drinking water, wildlife habitat, and recreation—when evaluating new oil and gas drilling and mining proposals near national parks.

• 63% of Americans oppose (39% Republicans, 86% Democrats, 65% Independents) granting oil and gas companies lifetime exemptions from regulations that protect threatened and endangered species.

• 70% of Americans oppose (62% Republicans, 79% Democrats, 71% Independents) the National Park Service changing regulations to allow historically banned sport hunting practices in Alaska national park preserves, such as baiting bears, spotlighting bears and wolves, and killing bear cubs and wolf pups in their dens.

“It’s our hope that the administration will change direction and listen to the American public when it comes to protecting and recovering national park wildlife populations wherever they roam,” said Melton.

Polling methodology:

The poll was conducted in June, among 1,300 U.S. adults ages 18 and older. The study was composed of two parts: a general population sample of 1,000 and a sample of 300 hunters. Results were weighted to be representative of demographics of adults in the United States.

The sampling precision of YouGov online polls is measured by using a Bayesian credible interval. For the general population sample, the estimates are accurate to within +/- 4.1% using a 95% confidence level. The hunter sample credible interval is +/- 6.6%.

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About the National Parks Conservation Association: Since 1919, the nonpartisan National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) has been the leading voice in safeguarding our national parks. NPCA and its more than 1.9 million members and supporters work together to protect and preserve our nation’s most iconic and inspirational places for future generations. For more information, visit www.npca.org.