Walker urges balance on wilderness issues

Gov. Olene Walker reached out to the big business of outdoor recreation on Friday, charging members of a task force created by her predecessor to find ways to restore the status of wilderness and promote the state's economy without sacrificing jobs in rural areas.

"We want to preserve the beauties of Utah," Walker said Friday while the key Outdoor Retailers Trade Show took place in the same downtown convention center.

The sponsor, the Outdoor Industry Association, had threatened last year to pull its twice-yearly trade shows — and their $24 million impact — from Salt Lake City.

Walker's address was to the Outdoor Recreation Economic Ecosystem Task Force, established in November by former Gov. Mike Leavitt — now head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — to appease the association.

The outdoor retailers successfully leveraged their economic clout last spring and fall, threatening to yank their trade shows in response to Leavitt's settlements with the Interior Department that eliminated wilderness protection for nearly 6 million acres of federal land in the state.

One agreement lifted the Bureau of Land Management's ability to manage lands as wilderness until Congress declares them as such. Another created a procedure for resolving county road claims across BLM lands that have resulted in years of disputes and litigation.

Leavitt responded to the pressure by pledging to make Utah a "recreation capital."

Walker on Friday warned it would be a challenge for the task force to achieve that goal while also building bridges with interests representing the traditional Western heritage economy of rural Utah.

Walker was careful in her comments to not alienate rural leaders already upset by perceived meddling in land issues.

"We do not expect you to resolve Utah's public land issues," Walker told the task force, which will hold its first meeting Feb. 18 in Salt Lake City.

Prominent retailers in attendance were quick to point out the economic importance of their industry.

"This isn't about environmentalism, it's about an $18 billion industry," said Dennis Madsen, the CEO of national outdoor retailer REI. "It's an economic engine for the state."

Ashley Korenblat, president of Western Spirit, a Moab-based cycling tour company, said the association's efforts represent the first time business has petitioned the government to protect, rather than access, public land.

The Outdoor Retailer trade show, billed as the largest outdoor retail convention in the world, is committed to stay in Salt Lake City through the winter of 2005. The association represents 4,000 U.S. manufacturers, retailers, suppliers, sales representatives and distributors.