Pusch Ridge Wilderness Area

Infobox_protected_area | name = Pusch Ridge Wilderness
iucn_category = Ib

---

caption =
locator_x = 60
locator_y = 123
location = Arizona, USA
nearest_city = Catalina Foothills, Arizona
lat_degrees = 32
lat_minutes = 22
lat_seconds = 0
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 110
long_minutes = 49
long_seconds = 0
long_direction = W
area = convert|56430|acre|km2|0|sing=off
established = 1978
visitation_num =
visitation_year =
governing_body = U.S. Bureau of Land Management

Pusch Ridge Wilderness Area is a 56,430 acre (228.36 km²) wilderness area. It is located within the Coronado National Forest in the Santa Catalina Mountains north of Tucson, Arizona, United States. Established in 1978, the area varies greatly in elevation and biodiversity, rising from 2,800 feet to over 9,100 feet in elevation.

The area was originally created in an ill-fated effort to preserve and protect the sensitive Desert Bighorn Sheep population on Pusch Ridge, one of the last remaining populations in Arizona. Due in part to increased residential and commercial development around the Santa Catalina Mountains in Oro Valley and the Catalina Foothills, however, the Desert Bighorn Sheep population in the wilderness area has dwindled dramatically, and sightings have nearly ceased in recent years.

ee also

*Wilderness Act
*List of U.S. Wilderness Areas
*List of Arizona Wilderness Areas

External links

* [http://www.wilderness.net/index.cfm?fuse=NWPS&sec=wildView&wname=Pusch%20Ridge Pusch Ridge at wilderness.net]