Pusch Ridge Wilderness Area
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Pusch Ridge Wilderness Area is located within the Coronado National Forest in the Santa Catalina Mountains north of Tucson, Arizona. Established in 1978, the area encompasses 56,430 acres (228.36 km²). Pusch Ridge Wilderness 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.
