NEWS

Oregon wants to host Outdoor Retailer after giant show snubs Utah over public lands

Zach Urness
Statesman Journal
Multnomah Falls in Oregon.

The world's largest outdoor gear show is suddenly without a home, and Oregon officials are hoping to pounce.

Tourism officials said Friday they're working to bring the massive Outdoor Retailer trade show to Portland following organizers’ decision to pull out of Utah on Thursday.

Disagreement over Utah’s stance on public lands led numerous brands, such as Patagonia, to say they would boycott the twice-a-year show that brought 40,000 visitors and $45 million annually to Salt Lake City.

After an unproductive meeting between Utah Gov. Gary Herbert and outdoor recreation business representatives, industry leaders said they’d find a new location for the two Outdoor Retailer shows "as soon as possible."

Oregon is hoping to be that new location, said Linea Gagliano, director of global communications for Travel Oregon.

"We're very interested in this — we feel like Portland is the perfect spot," Gagliano said. "We already have tons of outdoor retailers in town, we've got a huge new hotel coming in next to the convention center and we have great access to the outdoors.

"Oregon is the Silicon Valley of outdoors gear. We have everything."

Statesman Journal file
Visitors enjoy an iconic view of Mount Hood from Pittock Mansion.

Gagliano said travel and tourism already generates $10.8 billion in economic impact and directly employs more than 105,000 Oregonians.

"Outdoor recreation is a business that benefits everyone in Oregon — from urban to rural," Gagliano said.

Outdoor industry leaders had previously threatened to leave Utah if Gov. Herbert didn't stand down from his call for President Donald Trump to rescind the new Bears Ears National Monument, a 1.35 million acre monument President Obama created on Dec. 28. Gov. Herbert refused to grant their request in the conference call, triggering the decision.

"We really can't stand by this action," said Rose Marcario, Patagonia CEO. "As an industry, we're all about defending public lands."

Marcario was joined on the hourlong call by leaders from The North Face, REI and the Outdoor Industry Association.

The Bears Ears stance by Herbert and other Republican leaders was the culmination of years of actions that showed the state is more interested in seizing control of its public lands than preserving them for hiking, biking and skiing, said Amy Roberts, Outdoor Industry Association executive director.

"Our members have made it very clear they won't support the show in Utah," Roberts said.

In this Aug. 4, 2016, file photo, people attend the Outdoor Retailer show, in Salt Lake City. Gov. Gary Herbert said Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017, that he will remind organizers of an outdoor trade show considering leaving Utah partly over GOP policies on public lands that it's been a "blessing" for them to have Salt Lake City as a host for the last two decades and it's helped the expo grow significantly.

The event has grown from 5,000 people at the first show in 1996 to about 29,000 last summer — and nearly 45,000 between two shows. It attracts an estimated $45 million in annual direct spending to Utah, filling hotels and restaurants during the two shows held each year.

Oregon could have some competition.

Denver appears to be making an aggressive bid, the Salt Lake Tribune reported. Conservation Colorado placed a half-page ad in The Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret News on Wednesday, urging the event to move to Colorado, the paper reported.

"We have stronger beer. We have taller peaks. We have higher recreation," the ad reads. "But most of all, we love our public lands. ... We have honored and fought for our public lands by defeating land seizure bills and embracing new national monuments. ... Colorado knows protecting public lands is just good business."

The only setback for Oregon could be some high-profile public lands issues of its own.

Last Tuesday, the Oregon State Land Board voted to sell the Elliott State Forest to a private partnership of Lone Rock Timber Company and the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians. Then, on Tuesday, Oregon Republican lawmakers introduced legislation to study transferring Oregon’s federal public lands to state control.

Read more: 

Land board votes to sell Elliott State Forest, but decision not final

Bill considers moving Oregon public land to state control

Illinois River: Oregon's wildest and most remote stream

Letter accuses Oregon environmental groups of 'white privilege' on Elliott forest sale

The Associated Press contributed to this report

Zach Urness has been an outdoors writer, photographer and videographer in Oregon for eight years. He is the author of the book “Hiking Southern Oregon” and can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on Twitter at @ZachsORoutdoors.