Dan Jorgensen is the fourth generation of family farmers to raise cattle on his Sevier County ranch. But now, Jorgensen said he's feeling pressure to sell part of his land to developers willing to pay top dollar.

"We've loved this land for generations, but it's tempting to sell. The only option for farmers is to sell to developers," he said.

An initiative on Tuesday's ballot is giving Jorgensen hope, he said, that farmers may soon have a choice to preserve open space rather than sell out to subdivisions.

Jorgensen and other supporters of the open-space initiative are still in the majority in Utah but may be losing some steam, according to a Deseret Morning News/KSL-TV poll conducted by Dan Jones & Associates.

If the election were held today, 58 percent of the 1,228 respondents statewide said they would vote for Initiative 1, a $150 million bond that would pay to improve air and water quality, construct buildings and preserve open space through a .05-cent sales tax hike.

The poll shows support for the measure is down from September, when 65 percent of respondents were in favor of the bond. The latest poll, conducted Oct. 21-28, has a 2.8 percent margin of error.

The initiative has also lost support in the past month from several top state leaders, including Gov. Olene Walker and House and Senate leadership, who said they want open space but they don't want Initiative 1.

With strong opposition also coming from the Utah Taxpayers Association and the Utah Farm Bureau, Initiative 1 has been mired down in concerns about tax policy and the initiative process itself.

"When you first look at it, you're for it. It's apple pie and baseball and Chevrolet. It's got a nice shiny body, but it's a clunker inside," said former U.S. Rep. Jim Hansen.

One of the biggest concerns for Hansen and current legislative leaders is that the initiative process rips budget control out of the Legislature's hands. The Utah Tax Review Commission's concerns over creating tax policy by initiative prompted the group to draft a statement listing its qualms about the open-space bond.

The commission also is concerned that the initiative pledges the state's entire sales tax revenue as a backstop for bond costs and that the $150 million bond would cut into the state's limited bonding capacity.

Six mayors in Salt Lake County added their voice to the opposition Friday. The mayors, from Salt Lake County, Riverton, Midvale, West Valley, Draper and Taylorsville, said their main concern is that the sales tax increase for open space won't benefit all Utahns but that all Utahns will pay for it.

Taylorsville Mayor Janice Auger said the initiative looks good on its face but the fine print in the measure tells a different story.