Outdoor Retailer has officially decided to move its annual trade show out of Utah after brands such as Patagonia, The North Face and REI pulled out of the event over the state’s attempt to rescind public lands.
The yearly Outdoor Retailer trade show, which featured over 1,600 brands last year, has been held in Salt Lake City for two decades. But recently the company and the outdoor brands it hosts have taken issue with Utah’s moves to transfer federal lands to the state. Outdoor Retailer said it has put in a proposal for an alternative locale, which it has yet to disclose, but that the process will take between two and three months.
“Salt Lake City has been hospitable to Outdoor Retailer and our industry for the past 20 years, but we are in lockstep with the outdoor community and are working on finding our new home,” said Outdoor Retailer show director Marisa Nicholson, referring to the numerous brands and companies that previously pulled out of the trade show in protest.
Related Articles
The Outdoor Industry Association’s Amy Roberts said: “It is important to our membership, and to our bottom line that we partner with states and elected officials who share our views on the truly unique American value of public lands for the people and conserving our outdoor heritage for the next generation.”
You May Also Like
The dispute centers around Utah’s Bear Ears National Monument, which protects more than 1.3 million acres of public land and was designated a national monument by President Barack Obama in December. But Governor Gary Herbert and other Republican lawmakers in the state have recently urged the new administration of President Trump to rescind the designation and remit the land back to state ownership.
The association, which represents more than 1,200 outdoor-centric businesses in the U.S. and 50 in Utah alone, said a Thursday phone call with governor Herbert discussing the outdoor community’s stance on public lands remaining accessible to all Americans did not result in any kind of agreement.
“It is clear that the governor indeed has a different perspective on the protections of public lands from that of our members and the majority of Western state voters, both Republicans and Democrats,” the association said.
Roberts also noted that the trade show generates more than $40 million in economic impact and said the outdoor recreation economy in Utah as a whole creates more than $12 billion in direct spending in the state, supports 122,000 jobs and contributes about $856 million in annual state and local tax revenue.
“These numbers and our values will be of great interest to other states in the West,” Roberts added.