Outdoor industry leaders delivered an ultimatum to Utah Gov. Gary Herbert on Thursday. Herbert balked.
As a result, a lucrative trade show staged in Utah for two decades announced Thursday it will be leaving Utah over the latest disagreement with state leaders about their stance on public lands. The last Outdoor Retailer Summer Market in Salt Lake City will be in the summer of 2018.
The Outdoor Retailer show made the announcement just hours after leaders of the 1,200-member Outdoor Industry Association and executives from The North Face, REI and Patagonia told Herbert in a conference call that Utah must change its stance on public lands or the industry would move its lucrative Outdoor Retailer trade show from Salt Lake City.
Specifically, they said Herbert must abandon state and national efforts to gut the Antiquities Act, claw back Bear Ears National Monument and transfer federal lands to the state.
Herbert's office called it offensive that the show won't even let Utah bid for future shows after so many years of support. Utah's Democratic chairman meanwhile blamed the state's GOP's "far-right agenda" for costing the state the $45 million in direct spending the show brings annually.
Amy Roberts, chief of Boulder-based Outdoor Industry Association, said, “We were hopeful he would see this as a crossroads moment and he would take the opportunity to stand up and say it's time to embrace outdoor recreation. In the end it was clear we have different viewpoints.”
The owner of Outdoor Retailer — trade show operator Emerald Expositions — joined the call with the governor and made clear the company was aligned with the outdoor recreation industry on this issue.
"We are in lockstep with the outdoor community and are working on finding our new home,” said Marisa Nicholson, Emerald's show director for Outdoor Retailer, in a statement.
The biannual Outdoor Retailer trade shows have been in Utah since 1996, each attracting tens of thousands of shop owners, gear manufacturers, nonprofit leaders and media members. The gatherings bring an estimated $45 million a year to the state.
Emerald Expositions will send out requests for proposals from cities that want to host the trade show.
That leaves the door open for Colorado, which is highlighting its celebration of outdoor recreation and public lands as it courts Outdoor Retailer.
“There is opportunity for Denver right now,” Roberts said.
Emerald Expositions said late Thursday that its Interbike trade show - North America's largest gathering of bike retailers and manufacturers which is exploring a move from Las Vegas - would not move to Salt Lake City.
The last time Outdoor Retailer went shopping for a new home, in 2012, the industry pushed Herbert to extol outdoor recreation as an economic engine. And he did, creating the nation's first Office of Outdoor Recreation. That previous negotiation had given the industry hope that it could sway the Republican governor from his state's efforts to reduce the role of federal government in managing land inside Utah.
Roberts said she has fielded “many calls” from other states in the West eager to replace Utah as home to the influential trade show. A decision could be made as early as this spring, she told The Associated Press.
“Public lands are definitely the infrastructure of our industry … but this isn't just a business issue for us,” Roberts said. “We feel it's our mission as an industry to use our voice to fight for these issues and make sure Americans can access their lands.”
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