{"id":68061,"date":"2017-02-18T07:01:00","date_gmt":"2017-02-18T14:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/coloradans-take-utahs-lesson-on-public-lands-to-heart\/"},"modified":"2017-02-18T14:01:00","modified_gmt":"2017-02-18T14:01:00","slug":"coloradans-take-utahs-lesson-on-public-lands-to-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/coloradans-take-utahs-lesson-on-public-lands-to-heart\/","title":{"rendered":"Coloradans take Utah\u2019s lesson on public lands to heart"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/p>\n

DENVER \u2013 Members of the outdoor recreation community sent a message this week to state governments about endangering the public lands that the industry relies on.<\/p>\n

That message: Shape up or we will ship out.<\/p>\n

Representatives from the industry released statements Thursday declaring their intention to move the biannual Outdoor Retailer<\/a> show, which has called Salt Lake City home for 20 years, out of Utah after having their concerns shrugged off during a conference call with Utah Gov. Gary Herbert.<\/p>\n

The show, which has summer and winter events, is committed to Utah through its summer 2018 market. It draws thousands of companies, tens of thousands of customers and contributes more than $45 million to the state\u2019s economy every year, Amy Roberts, executive director of the Outdoor Industry Association, said in a release. The association represents more than 1,200 retailers and manufacturers.<\/p>\n

Included with Roberts on the conference call was leadership from powerhouses in the industry, including The North Face, Patagonia and REI.<\/p>\n

The concerns voiced about Utah\u2019s policies include resolutions to rescind the newly declared Bears Ears National Monument and efforts by its congressional representatives to gut the 1906 Antiquities Act and transfer ownership of national public lands to the state.<\/p>\n

The call came on the heels of a written ultimatum issued to Herbert on Tuesday by 30 outdoor recreation companies, including Cortez-based Osprey Packs<\/a>, and raises issues about federal public lands and how states, including Colorado and its Legislature, view their protections and management.<\/p>\n

The message<\/div>\n

Colorado House Majority Leader KC Becker, D-Boulder, said the message the industry sent should open the eyes of policymakers at the state and federal levels and shows it is willing to stand up for the lifestyle it promotes.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir customers are saying \u2018We need you to reflect our values,\u2019 and I think it is a really strong indication of where the public is, and that Utah is an outlier,\u201d Becker said.<\/p>\n

Shelly Silbert, executive director of Durango-based Great Old Broads for Wilderness<\/a>, said her organization wholeheartedly supports the statement being made by the retailers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt should speak loudly to politicians, and the fact that Utah politicians aren\u2019t listening tells me that they have a different agenda,\u201d Silbert said.<\/p>\n

In a political atmosphere where many Coloradans are questioning if their voices are being heard, this speaks volumes, said state Sen. Kerry Donovan, D-Vail. \u201cThis is a clear example that the \u2018keep public lands in public hands\u2019 is resonating big time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Economic impact<\/div>\n

Rep. Diane Mitsch Bush, D-Steamboat Springs, said the economic importance of public lands goes well beyond the industries that are directly involved in their use.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re also important for our Front Range businesses that have nothing to do with skiing per se,\u201d Bush said. \u201cHigh-tech, aerospace, they make decisions on starting a new business here partly because we have access to those public lands.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gov. John Hickenlooper brought up the far-reaching impact of outdoor recreation on Colorado in his State of the State speech last month.<\/p>\n

\u201cOutdoor recreation generates 313,000 jobs in our state and over $34 billion in economic output, much of it in rural Colorado,\u201d Hickenlooper said.<\/p>\n

Access and protection of public lands is an identifying characteristic of being a Coloradan, Becker said. \u201dIt\u2019s very much part of the Colorado brand.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people, if you ask them why they moved to Colorado, you\u2019re going to find that in the first couple things that they list off is going to be an activity that happens on public lands,\u201d Donovan said.<\/p>\n

But the value of the lands goes far beyond the economic impact, she said. \u201cThey\u2019re so democratic, and they\u2019re such a unique concept in the world. This concept of public lands is uniquely American.\u201d<\/p>\n

Control of public lands<\/div>\n

While the Republican-held Legislature in Utah is pushing an agenda that calls for returning national public lands to the state, the GOP in Colorado is focused on improving the management of these lands.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we need a better coordination between federal, state and county government,\u201d said Sen. Don Coram, R-Montrose.<\/p>\n

To facilitate this coordination, Rep. Bob Rankin, R-Glenwood Springs, sponsored legislation in 2015 to create a grant program to assist local jurisdictions in cooperative efforts with federal land managers.<\/p>\n

Rankin said he is in \u201clock-step\u201d with Coram on this but does see occasions where the transfer of lands from federal control to state, and the other way around, could make sense. But not in mass.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think it is practical to just say \u2018we\u2019re just going to transfer all federal lands to state control,\u2019\u201d Rankin said.<\/p>\n

If legislation was put in place for such transfers, it would require well-thought-out guidelines, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to have some guardrails, too. We don\u2019t want a situation where a state, just because they need to balance their budget, can sell off lands.\u201d<\/p>\n

Democrats in both chambers expressed concerns over Colorado\u2019s ability to pay for the management of federal lands if they were transferred.<\/p>\n

Donovan said in the past there have been attempts to question jurisdiction on public lands, which she sees as a slow creep toward moving these lands to state control. But no such legislation has been introduced this year.<\/p>\n

lperkins@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Conservation group makes case for Colorado<\/h4>\n

DENVER \u2013 Now that Outdoor Retailer has announced its intention to move its biannual markets from Utah, conversations about the location of its new home will pick up.
\n At least one organization has already been soliciting on Colorado\u2019s behalf.
\n Conservation Colorado, a Denver-based environmental lobbying group, took out full-page ads in two Salt Lake City publications to make the case for Colorado.
\n \u201cWe wanted to make sure that Colorado\u2019s record on public lands is part of that conversation, so we placed an ad in the Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret News (Wednesday) highlighting, in a kind of funny way, our record on public lands,\u201d said Scott Braden, public lands advocate for Conservation Colorado.
\n The ads point out Colorado\u2019s history of protecting public lands, the increased alcohol content of beer produced in the state and the access to \u201chigher\u201d recreation.
\n This was not part of an organized effort to bring the annual Winter Market and Summer Market, which annually generate more than $45 million for Utah, to Colorado, Braden said.
\n Sen. Kerry Donovan, D-Vail, said attracting the retailers\u2019 show would represent the ultimate feather in Colorado\u2019s cap.
\n \u201cNot only are we responding to our constituents directly in protecting what makes Colorado Colorado, (but) isn\u2019t the icing on the cake that perhaps we could also get the outdoor industry trade show, which should be in Colorado anyways?\u201d Donovan said.
\n Outdoor Retailer announced earlier this month that it would consider proposals for new venues. The process is expected to take two to three months, and the expectation is that Colorado will apply.
\n Luke Perkins<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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