"That thing is going to be tied up in court so fast," Hansen said. "Then the legislators are going to say, 'Someone handed us this bag of worms and we've got to fix it.' "

Hansen also said he doubts citizens who voted for the bond will actually see initiative promises fulfilled. The Legislature may just cut funding for existing conservation measures to balance the scales, he said.

"I seriously doubt whether it does anything to advantage anyone," he said. "The public is under the impression they're going to get open space. Well, they're not."

Proponents for the initiative faced an uphill battle throughout this election, starting with doubts about the validity of the petition's 130,000 signatures. The Utah Supreme Court verified the signatures in August, leaving sponsors only two months to sell the initiative to residents already wary of higher taxes.

During those two months, Initiative 1 sponsors faced opposition from some of Utah's top leaders, including Gov. Olene Walker and House and Senate leadership. The Utah Tax Review Commission also aired its concerns that the bond would eat into the state's bonding capacity and that the measure would set a bad precedent of creating tax policy by initiative.

But with strong financial backing from the Nature Conservancy and endorsements from gubernatorial candidates Jon Huntsman Jr. and Scott Matheson Jr., public support for the initiative remained strong. A $895,000 campaign by initiative sponsors also spread the message of Utah's need for open space via television commercials and mailers.

A $7 million open-space bond in Draper city was leading in preliminary poll results.

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E-mail: estewart@desnews.com