A newly released audio recording of a conference call about the future of a lucrative outdoor retailer show in Utah reveals that Gov. Gary Herbert refused to acquiesce to demands from heavy hitters of the outdoor industry to abandon his push to have the Bears Ears National Monument rescinded.
Herbert concedes at the end of the Feb. 16 call that the Outdoor Retailer show and Utah would have to part ways over what he perceived as an "ultimatum."
The show announced later that evening it would be leaving Utah after two decades.
The meeting was set up in an attempt to smooth discord over the state's stance on public lands.
The details of the call were first reported by The Salt Lake Tribune, which obtained the audio through a public records request.