DENVER – In some ways, it was business as usual at Outdoor Retailer, the country’s premier trade show that on Thursday began its four-day stay at the Colorado Convention Center.

But in more ways, the show bringing together thousands of brands and retailers was different this time. The obvious change was the venue: OR arrives in Colorado’s capital after two decades in Utah. The departure was a protest against elected officials there who agreed with President Donald Trump to shrink Bears Ears National Monument.

That contributed to the underlying theme that carried into this weekend, shifting the tone.

“It’s a different vibe right out of the gate,” said Luis Benitez, the Colorado Outdoor Recreation Industry Office director who was instrumental in luring OR, which combined with SnowSports Industries America’s Snow Show.

While big-company heads and small shop owners alike scoured the convention center’s exhibit-filled halls, others were in seminars, listening to industry leaders speak on the political fight that must be joined.

“The whole nation is thinking about it more and more, and given what’s happened, we recognize we do need to take a big role to protect public lands,” said Elaine Smith, beside her husband Jim, with whom she owns Colorado Springs’ Mountain Chalet. On their way to Denver, they passed the billboard they recently put up over Interstate 25, displaying the shop logo, a mountainous scene and the words “This land is your land.”

Thursday began with a pledge from Gov. John Hickenlooper to the industry generating nearly a trillion dollars to the nation’s economy: “to be the strongest advocate, the best partner you can have in state government.”

That message was elevated by Colorado U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet on the eve of the show. In a press call Wednesday, he announced the Continental Divide Recreation, Wilderness, and Camp Hale Legacy Act. If passed, the bill would designate the former grounds of the Army’s 10th Mountain Division as a first National Historic Landscape and set aside thousands of surrounding acreage for wildlife and recreation.

Bennet said he expected more conservation efforts to spark throughout the state in coming years, “as people (get) on their feet to join a political environment that supports public lands and the economic activity that comes along with that.”

The industry that in 2016 was deemed worthy of a place in the country’s gross domestic product report continues to make itself known, demanding attention from the land’s most powerful decision-makers.

It did Thursday as a crowd cheered on a presentation from the Center for Western Priorities. In conjunction with Colorado College, the advocacy group polled equal numbers of Republican and Democratic westerners, 81 percent of whom said they viewed the outdoors as an economic advantage.

The show’s three installments every year are expected to deliver a huge economic impact to Denver. And the dollars are likely to spread across the Front Range, as they did around the show’s former home in Salt Lake City, said Amy Roberts, the Outdoor Industry Association’s executive director.

“Owners will get exposed to what Colorado has to offer,” she said. “So I think you’ll see people start to think about locating sales centers here, or distribution centers or headquarters.”

The big city down the interstate should take note, said David Leinweber, owner of Angler’s Covey and founder of the Pikes Peak Outdoor Recreation Alliance, comprised of business owners and nonprofit representatives sharing the goal to improve outdoor access. More than business opportunities, Leinweber was most excited about meeting U.S. Forest Service Chief Tony Tooke this weekend.

“One of the big reasons Luis wanted to bring Outdoor Retailer here was to really have a place where we can have these conversations,” said Leinweber, who’s gotten close to Benitez. “It doesn’t go anywhere unless we collaborate, work together and strategically come up with solutions.”

The show’s impact in Colorado could reveal itself over the next five years. That’s the length of the contract for OR to remain in Denver – “right now, anyway,” Benitez said with a grin.