In 2024 the Arizona Game and Fish department has been posing the question of whether the auction of the special big game license tags fit the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation.
In the video below, Mr. Gray Thornton, President and CEO of the Wild Sheep Foundation addresses this concern by reviewing the history of the primary source of, and what has now become the standard bearer of, funding wild sheep conservation in North America. A model of funding wildlife conservation so successful and efficient that it has been copied in many other countries.
- Commissioner Marsha Sue mpetriesue@azgfd.gov
- Commissioner Jeff Buchanan jbuchanan@azgfd.gov
- Commissioner Clay Hernandez chernandez@azgfd.gov
- Commissioner James Goughnour jgoughnour@azgfd.gov
- Commissioner Todd Geiler tgeiler@azgfd.gov
Jim Shocky presents a little history on the Desert Bighorn Sheep and the Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society. Learn how Arizona went from less than 700 sheep to over 6000 and how we raised over 9.5 million dollars for Sheep conservation! Watch for the curl on the ram at the 5:03 mark!
Other Info
Sheep Articles & Research Papers
- Update on the Black Mountain Bighorn Sheep Disease Issue, 2015
- Mountain Lion Diet Workshop, UT, 2014
- KOFA 9th Circuit Ruling December 2010
- US 93 Bighorn Sheep Movement Study progress report for April 2010
- Concerns over historic KOFA sheep herd elevated August 2009
- Master's Thesis: Genetic Analysis of Mountain Lion Feces from KOFA National Wildlife Refuge by Ashwin Naidu December 2009
- Wilderness Groups Stop Water Project in Black Mts. January 2008
- Kingman Daily Miner series October, 2007
- Water Developments and Bighorn Sheep
- Hunters Giving Back To Wildlife
- Unit 22 Wildlife Monograph
- History and Management of the Arizona Desert Bighorn with 1998 Survey Data
- Wildlife Water Developments and Desert Bighorn Sheep in the Southwest United States
- A Monumental Concern
- A Justification for the Continued Use of Wildlife Water Developments for the Management of Bighorn Sheep Populations in the Southwest United States.
- ADBSS Presentation at the 2004 Wildlife Water Workshop
- Cabeza Prieta Legal Brief
FUNDING
Funding for the on-the-ground conservation projects we perform comes from various sources such as fundraising events, donations and grants. We also market and auction/raffle donated sheep tags by Arizona Game and Fish Department through their Special Big Game Tag Program. 100% of the dollars raised from these tags are given to the Arizona Game and Fish Department for bighorn sheep conservation. The list below shows the dollars raised annually from these tags.
2023
$270,000 ADBSS Desert Auction
$200,000 ADBSS Rocky Auction
$89,550 AZBGSR Desert Raffle
2022
$300,000 ADBSS Desert Auction
$260,000 ADBSS Rocky Auction
$162,550 AZBGSR Desert Raffle
2021
$315,000 ADBSS Desert Auction
$210,000 ADBSS Rocky Auction
$167,425 AZBGSR Desert Raffle
2020
$270,000 ADBSS Desert Auction
$270,000 ADBSS Rocky Auction
$202,675 AZBGSR Desert Raffle
2019
$265,000 ADBSS Desert Auction
$200,000 ADBSS Rocky Auction
$167,575 AZBGSR Desert Raffle
2018
$315,000 ADBSS Desert Auction
$200,000 ADBSS Rocky Auction
$173,175 AZBGSR Desert Raffle
2017
$210,000A DBSS Desert Auction
$200,000 ADBSS Rocky Auction
$168,925 AZBGSR Desert Raffle
2016
$380,000 ADBSS Desert Auction
$197,500 ADBSS Rocky Auction
$162,650 AZBGSR Desert Raffle
2015
$225,000 ADBSS Desert Auction
$115,000 ADBSS Rocky Auction
$161,500 AZBGSR Desert Raffle
2014
1$45,000 ADBSS Desert Auction
$180,000 ADBSS Rocky Auction
$151,800 AZBGSR Desert Raffle
2013
$160,000 ADBSS Desert Auction
$97,000 ADBSS Rocky Auction
$132,750 AZBGSR Desert Raffle
2012
$160,000 ADBSS Desert Auction
$75,000 ADBSS Rocky Auction
$130,450 AZBGSR Desert Raffle
