A Salt Lake Tribune-Hinckley Institute of Politics poll found 34 percent of registered Utah voters evaluated the state’s response to Outdoor Retailer complaints as excellent or good, while 23 percent rated it as fair and 31 percent found it poor.
Dan Jones & Associates conducted the survey of 605 registered voters from March 15 to 21, a month after Emerald Expositions, the owner of the show, said it would not include Utah in requests for proposals to host future shows.
Gov. Gary Herbert’s spokesman Paul Edwards told the Salt Lake Tribune, “This was not a win/win for either party so it’s not surprising that people throughout the state are as disappointed as we are that we didn’t get to what would have been the best outcome — for the Outdoor Retailer show to stay here.”
He maintained the dispute “overemphasized a few differences and minimized the significant overlap of interests and ideals that both the state and the OIA share for strong recreation opportunities in the state and the preservation of our archaeological and natural resources.”
