Four years after organizers of the outdoor industry's largest trade show decided to move to Denver from Salt Lake City to protest Utah's public lands policies, Gov. Spencer Cox has sent a video message: Come back.

"We've missed you for the past several years, and we made some improvement while you were away," Cox, a Republican, says in the 75-second spot. "Salt Lake has a brand-new $4.2 billion international airport. A new 700-room Hyatt Regency hotel is being built directly into the Salt Place Convention Center.

"And we're working with key stakeholders to establish sustainable ways to manage Bears Ears National Monument and other cherished public lands," he says.

Preservation of Bears Ears was as an issue when Outdoor Retailer organizer Emerald Expositions decided in 2017 that the show would move to Denver under a four-year contract with that city. The Outdoor Industry Association is a major sponsor of the show.

President Barack Obama created the national monument in 2016, but the following year, with support from Utah officials, President Donald Trump reduced the size of the monument 85%.

Show director Marisa Nicholson, SVP at Emerald Expositions, said after last summer's event in Denver that there's "a really good chance" the twice-annual show would stay in Denver, publication Outside Business Journal reported at the time. However, she said that Anaheim, Calif., Las Vegas, Orlando, or Salt Lake City were other possible locations. A decision will be made by the end of the year, she said.

"At the end of the day, this is the industry's show," Nicholson told OBJ. "And we're going to continue to host the show where the industry wants it to be."

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