The Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) offered big numbers Wednesday to support its contention that state officials nationwide — including in Utah — should pay greater attention to the economic contributions of people who recreate outdoors.
Delivered on the first day of the final Outdoor Retailer Summer Trade Show being held in Salt Lake City, the association's report on state-by-state recreation spending put the outlay in Utah at $12.3 billion last year.
Outdoor recreation companies supported 110,000 jobs directly, more than twice as many as the mining (32,000) and energy (18,000) sectors combined, it pointed out. Those extractive industries have received far more support from state officials than outdoor enthusiasts have.
Because of the state's backing of efforts to transfer control of public lands from federal to state control and to overturn or shrink Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, OIA and Outdoor Retailer's owner decided to move the trade shows out of Utah after a two-decade run.
The show will be leaving a state in which, the report said, outdoor recreation companies paid $3.9 billion in wages to their 110,000 employees, as well as $737 million in state and local taxes.
In presenting the state-by-state economic report at an Outdoor Retailer luncheon Wednesday, OIA Executive Director Amy Roberts said the data "underscores the fact outdoor recreation is a growing economic force."
"The outdoors brings us all together," she added. "From Maine to California, consumers are spending more on outdoor recreation, [making it] a powerful economic engine that contributes to business and healthy populations."
Nationally, OIA noted, spending amounted to $887 billion on camping, fishing, hunting, off-road motorized recreation, snow sports, wildlife viewing and trail, and paddle and wheel sports.
Tom Adams, director of Utah's Office of Outdoor Recreation, said the report reinforced his perspective that the outdoor industry is an "important driver in Utah's diverse economy."
"In 2016, Utah had more than 4.5 million skier days, and Utah's national and state parks have seen double-digit growth in visitation year over year for the last four years," Adams added, pledging that "we will continue to work with our state, local and federal partners to build our outdoor recreation industry and infrastructure."
Montana Gov. Steve Bullock said his state is moving aggressively to develop its outdoor-recreation industry, with its Republican-controlled Legislature approving funding for a post like Adams'.
Unlike Utah officials who are pushing to transfer management of public lands from federal to state control, Bullock said he — and most Montanans — prefer to see the federal government continue to oversee these lands and to keep them accessible.
"Don't transfer these lands out of public hands," he said, "because once you do that, you not only lose your core values of who you are, but you're impacting local economies."
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