Outdoor Retailer trade show says hello to Colorado; see ya Utah

Large outdoor trade show confirms move from Utah to Denver

AP_LOGO_02
Associated Press
Corporal Tyler Bukoski, computer maintainer, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, maneuvers, parallel to the floor, along a wall at a rock climbing gym in Carlsbad, California, June 27, 2014. (U.S. Marine Corps/Cpl. Emmanuel Ramo)

Corporal Tyler Bukoski, computer maintainer, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, maneuvers, parallel to the floor, along a wall at a rock climbing gym in Carlsbad, California, June 27, 2014. (U.S. Marine Corps/Cpl. Emmanuel Ramo)

Denver will be the new home for the nation’s largest outdoor recreation trade show.

At a press conference with Colorado’s governor and Denver’s mayor, the director of the Outdoor Retailer trade show, Marisa Nicholson, announced Thursday that the show would be held in the Mile High City starting in 2018.

The retailers are leaving Utah after 20 years. Political differences with Utah leaders, including their opposition to the Bears Ears National Monument, sparked the move.

The show decided to leave after Utah Gov. Gary Herbert signed a resolution calling on federal officials to rescind the monument that President Barack Obama designated on 1.3 million acres of land in southeastern Utah considered sacred to Native American tribes.

The organization’s biannual events attracted an estimated $45 million in annual direct spending to Utah.