SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The head of a group that puts on a lucrative annual outdoors show says she backs a statement from 30 companies urging Utah Gov. Gary Herbert and state officials to ease off policies they say threaten public lands.
Amy Roberts, the executive director of the Outdoor Industry Association, said Tuesday afternoon that she also opposes resolutions passed by Utah’s Legislature and signed by Herbert calling for the Bears Ears National Monument to be rescinded.
The association sponsors the semiannual Outdoor Retailer show, which generates an estimated $45 million in direct spending in Utah each year.
Roberts and other outdoor officials are expected to meet with Herbert on Thursday to discuss the dispute. She says in a statement that if they can’t reach an agreement with the governor, the show will leave Utah.