Toplines - Chesapeake Watershed October 2025

Survey of 1,030 US Likely Voters in the Chesapeake Watershed
Conducted October 17-24, 2025, by Rasmussen Reports and NumbersUSA

 

1.     The U.S. Department of Agriculture calculates that over the last four decades nearly 5,200 square miles of farmland and wildlife habitat in the Chesapeake Bay watershed have been permanently converted into housing, shopping malls, roads, and other urban and suburban development. How do you feel about this trend?

 

47% Very concerned

39% Somewhat concerned

 9% Not very concerned

 2% Not at all concerned

 3% Not sure

 

2.     Most of the new development in the Chesapeake Bay watershed has been driven by the addition of more than six million residents in the area. How do you feel about this level of population growth?

 

39% Very concerned

41% Somewhat concerned

14% Not very concerned

  3% Not at all concerned

  4% Not sure

 

3.     Generally speaking, how has the additional development and population growth affected the quality of life in your region?

 

15% Made it a better place to live

39% Made it a worse place to live

31% It did not have much of an effect

15% Not sure

 

4.     In terms of such environmental issues as air quality, open space and traffic congestion, what do you think the impact of this recent development of 5,200 square miles has been in your region?

 

14% Mostly beneficial

52% Mostly harmful

20% It did not have much of an effect

14% Not sure

 

5.     In terms of water quality, fish and shellfish stocks, what do you think the environmental impact of this development has been on the Chesapeake Bay itself?

 

14% Mostly beneficial

61% Mostly harmful

13% It did not have much of an effect

13% Not sure

 

6.     How important is it to protect the remaining farmland, forests, wetlands, and open spaces within the Chesapeake Bay watershed from development?

 

68% Very important

24% Somewhat important

  4% Not very important

  1% Not at all important

  3% Not sure

 

7.     In terms of access to outdoor recreation like fishing, hunting, hiking, biking, and boating, what do you think the environmental impact of this recent development of 5,200 square miles has been in your region?

 

19% Mostly beneficial

48% Mostly harmful

20% It did not have much of an effect

13% Not sure

 

8.     How important is it to you personally to be able to access natural areas fairly quickly from where you live?

 

48% Very important

35% Somewhat important

11% Not very important

  3% Not at all important

  3% Not sure

 

9.     Would you prefer that your region’s towns and cities remain separate and distinct from each other and keep their own identities, or does it not matter much if they merge into larger, continuous urban areas?

 

73% Prefer towns and cities remain separate and distinct

19% It doesn't much matter if they merge into larger urban areas

  8% Not sure

 

10.  If the population in your area were to increase significantly over the next decade, would the government be able to build enough extra transportation capacity to accommodate the extra traffic, or would driving times likely become worse?

 

20% Traffic likely could be accommodated without increasing driving times

44% Traffic likely would become somewhat slower and worse

30% Would likely become much slower and worse

  7% Not sure

 

11.  What would you prefer to happen to the Chesapeake Bay watershed’s population in the future?

 

13% Grow at its recent rapid rate

33% Grow much more slowly

31% Stay about the same size as it is now

13% Become smaller

10% Not sure

 

12.  The United States is growing by around two million people each year. Immigration accounts for most of the growth in the whole country, as well as in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Going forward, what should the government do?

 

52% Reduce immigration to slow population growth in the region and nation

29% Keep immigration and population growth at current rates

  5% Increase immigration and population growth

14% Not sure

 

13.  Rezoning for increased density is an attempt to accommodate continued population growth while reducing development on farmland and natural habitat. Do you favor increasing density as means of limiting sprawl in your community?

40% Yes

32% No

28% Not sure

 

14.  Do you favor paying higher property taxes if needed to accommodate new residents and residential development in your community?

28% Yes
41% No
30% Not sure

 

15.  The U.S. Department of Agriculture calculates that in recent decades urban sprawl has destroyed 43 million acres of farmland and natural habitat in the U.S., an area about equal in size to New England. If this trend were to continue, would it be ....

 

56% Major problem

31% Somewhat of a problem

  6% Not much of a problem

  1% Not a problem at all

  5% Not sure

 

16.  A recent study of government data found that most development in the last decade was driven by the country’s population growing by 22 million people. The Census Bureau projects at current rates the U.S. population could grow by more than one hundred million over the rest of this century. How would this amount of population growth affect your community and region?

 

16% Make them better places to live

60% Make them worse places to live

12% Not make much difference

12% Not sure

 

17.  Do you feel an emotional or spiritual uplift from time spent in natural areas such as forests, wetlands, meadows, mountains, and water bodies?

 

76% Yes

16% No

  8% Not sure

 

18.  Which do you agree with more: that it is unethical to pave over and build on good cropland and wildlife habitat, or that the need for more housing is a legitimate reason to eliminate cropland and wildlife habitat?

 

75% It is wrong to pave over and build on good cropland and wildlife habitat

16% The need for more housing is a legitimate reason to eliminate cropland and wildlife habitat

  9% Not sure

NOTE: Margin of Sampling Error, +/- 3% percentage points with a 95% level of confidence