Outdoor Retailer, the multimillion-dollar outdoor industry trade show, is officially ditching Utah in protest over anti-public lands sentiment from the state’s politicians, and industry leaders will be looking for a new home.

Nothing against the Beehive State, but Colorado is a natural fit for the Outdoor Retailer show, and our comparatively placid elected officials are waiting with open arms and a playground of 13.8 million acres of national forest.

Let’s start the pitch with the crux of the problem: Our politicians are simply less extreme.

Perhaps it’s the legal pot and microbreweries, but our elected officials seem slightly less unhinged.

Sure, we’ve got our fair share of public lands debate: conservatives who advocate for more drilling and mining and liberals who’d like activity limited to bird watching.

Colorado’s most conservative member of congress, Rep. Doug Lamborn, may have a track record of not being friendly to public lands, but even he was willing to fight to legalize the once off-limits grueling endurance climb in Colorado Springs known as the Manitou Incline.

By comparison, Utah’s elected elite “gave birth” to the anti-public lands movement that has riled up Patagonia and Black Diamond. Those outdoor behemoths feel Utah’s political leaders are at odds with the very ethos of their businesses. Who could blame them after Utah’s Rep. Jason Chaffetz made public his dream of selling off 3.3 million acres of federal land in a bill he later retracted?

That kind of folly makes Colorado’s Sen. Cory Gardner, a Republican from Yuma, look like a mountain climber from Boulder.

Gardner co-sponsored the Outdoor Recreation Jobs and Economic Impact Act that President Barack Obama signed in December ensuring the outdoor industry is counted as its own driving force in the Gross Domestic Product. We’d delve into Sen. Michael Bennet’s and Gov. John Hickenlooper’s support of public lands, but we don’t have space to do the Democrats’ work justice.

While Utah’s state legislators and congressional delegation have opposed and then tried to repeal or scale down the designation of national monuments, most of our elected officials have fought and cheered for the protection of spaces like Browns Canyon and Chimney Rock.

In addition to our robust federal lands, Colorado Parks and Wildlife manages 42 state parks and over 2.5 million acres of land open to outdoor recreation.

Many of our ski resorts need no introduction to the world. And our numerous hidden gems are worth discovering.

We’re home to the largest elk herd in North America, and our government raises 90 million sport fish annually to stock our abundant lakes and streams.

From our deserts in the west, up and over the forested and snow-capped Continental Divide, to the plains in the east, our state is a diverse paradise waiting for exploration. There’s no limit to the adventures that call to those who come to Denver for business and stay to play.

The urban core has a bustling nightlife with hipster dives, cowboy joints and refined dining. Denver voters just approved marijuana consumption venues. We have not one, but six professional sports teams.

And a new light rail takes travelers from the international airport to the iconic Union Station downtown, blocks from our convention center and plentiful hotel rooms.

Leaders with Outdoor Retailer need not feel homesick after two decades in Utah, Colorado is just across the border and life is sweet on the other side.

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