Editing Scouting in Arizona (section)

===Campaign to Save the Bighorn Sheep===
In 1936, Boy Scouts in Arizona mounted a statewide campaign to save the Bighorn Sheep.  The Scouts first became interested in the sheep through the efforts of Major [[Frederick Russell Burnham]].  Burnham observed that fewer than 150 of these sheep still lived in the Arizona mountains.  He called [[George Fuller Miller Sr.|George F. Miller]], then Scout Executive of the [[Phoenix, Arizona|Phoenix]] Scout Council, with a plan to save the sheep.  Burnham said, {{blockquote|I want you to save this majestic animal, not only because it is in danger of extinction, but of more importance, some day it might provide domestic sheep with a strain to save them from disaster at the hands of a yet unknown virus.<ref name="desertmagazine1978">{{cite journal| author=Edward H. Saxton| date=March 1978| title=Saving the Desert Bighorns | journal=Desert Magazine| volume =41| issue=3|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/2404512/197803DesertMagazine1978March |access-date=April 27, 2008}}</ref>}}
[[File:Desert Bighorn Sheep Joshua Tree cropped.JPG|left|thumb|[[Desert Bighorn Sheep]]]]
Several other prominent Arizonans join the movement and a ''save the bighorns'' poster contest was started in schools throughout the state.  Burnham provided prizes and appeared in store windows across Arizona.  The contest-winning bighorn emblem was made up into neckerchief slides for the 10,000 Boy Scouts, and talks and dramatizations were given at school assemblies and on radio.  The [[National Wildlife Federation]], the [[Izaak Walton League]], and the [[Audubon Society]] also joined the effort.<ref name="desertmagazine1978" />

These efforts led to the establishment of two bighorn game ranges in Arizona: [[Kofa National Wildlife Refuge]] and [[Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge]]. On January 18, 1939, over {{convert|1500000|acre|km2}} were set aside and a civilian conservation corp side camp was set up to develop high mountain waterholes for the sheep.  The [[Desert Bighorn Sheep]] is now the official mascot for Arizona Boy Scouts.{{Which|date=December 2009}}<ref name="desertmagazine1978" />
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