This week, the Conservation Alliance, along with more than 24 outdoor industry companies, put out a statement urging Emerald Expositions not to move the Outdoor Retailer trade show to Utah. The group, including companies such as REI, Patagonia, The North Face, Timberland, KEEN and Oboz, states that they “will not support or attend a trade show event in Utah so long as its elected officials continue attacks on national monuments and public lands protections.”

The statement comes as Emerald prepares to make a decision about the location of future OR Shows. Held twice annually, OR will see its contract to hold the show in Denver, CO expire after this June’s summer show. OR Show execs have indicated that a decision about future shows will be made well before June. Potential locations are said to include Denver, Salt Lake City, Anaheim, Orlando and Las Vegas.

The pressure from outdoor leaders is one of several factors likely to impact the show organizer’s decision about where to relocate the OR Show. With COVID and evolving business practices playing a part, the past two shows — Summer 2021 and Winter 2022 — have seen approximately 400 exhibitors, down from the 1200+ exhibitors the show traditionally saw in the past. Holding a traditional trade show in an increasingly more virtual business world is its own mega challenge. Additionally, many attendees have expressed dissatisfaction with higher costs of attending the show and doing business in Denver as opposed to the prior location of Salt Lake City.

In 2017, show organizers moved the OR Show out of Utah to Colorado in part due to outdoor industry brands and leaders speaking out against efforts by Utah’s elected officials to roll back national monument designations for Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante. The Conservation Alliance statement notes that the subsequent reduction in land protections was the largest loss of federally protected lands in U.S. history. Although those protections have since been restored, The Conservation Alliance says that Utah’s elected officials are again moving to strip these lands of federal protection while also attempting to woo Emerald to move the Outdoor Retailer trade show from Denver to Salt Lake City.

The statement from The Conservation Alliance concludes with, “So long as Utah’s elected delegation continues its assault on public lands and the laws designed to protect them, Emerald faces a choice: move the show to Utah and ensure that many of the key players in the outdoor industry will not return to Utah with the trade show, or work with the industry leaders to shape a future trade show that balances the interests and values of industry members and partners.”

Companies signing the statement include REI, Patagonia, The North Face, Public Lands, Timberland, KEEN Footwear, Oboz Footwear, Smartwool, SCARPA, La Sportiva N.A., Icebreaker, Arc’teryx, Kelty, Sierra Designs, Peak Design, Toad&Co, MiiR, NEMO Equipment, Backpacker’s Pantry, Therm-A-Rest, MSR, Helinox USA, GU Energy Labs, Alpacka Raft, Nomadix, LifeStraw, Backbone Media, GRAYL and TripOutside.