Patagonia, others threaten to boycott major outdoor show

DENVER (AP) — An environmental conservation group and two dozen outdoor recreation companies, including Patagonia, REI and The North Face, announced Monday they would boycott the Outdoor Retailer trade show if it's moved from Denver back to Salt Lake City, accusing Utah's leaders of trying to chip away at protections for national monuments and public lands.

The Conservation Alliance, comprised of more than 270 companies, said in a news release that Emerald X, the publicly traded company that owns Outdoor Retailer, is considering moving the show despite widespread industry objections.

“Our position on the location of the Outdoor Retailer trade show remains clear and unchanged: The show belongs in a state whose top officials value and seek to protect public lands," Patagonia CEO Ryan Gellert said.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox’s office and Emerald X did not respond to emails seeking comment Monday.

But Cox asked the show last year to return to Salt Lake City, saying the location offered economic benefits for both Utah and outdoor retailers.

“We’ve missed you for the past several years, and we’ve made some improvements while you’ve been away,” he said in a video released in October in which he referenced airport renovations and an increase in hotel room capacity.

The outdoors industry took a stand after Utah lawmakers asked President Donald Trump in February 2017 to repeal the newly designated Bears Ears National Monument. Thirty outdoor companies objected, and the Outdoor Retailer show announced it would move from its longtime home in Salt Lake City to Denver.

The following December, Trump reduced the size of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah. Patagonia sued and declared on its website, “The President Stole Your Land.”

Those protections...