This program highlights the iconic desert bighorn sheep, not only of our local Anza-Borrego Desert State Park but of the western states and northern Mexico. The book, Desert Bighorn Sheep: Wilderness Icon is the most comprehensive photographic work ever published on the desert bighorn. Learn about the range and status of the bighorn, its natural history, adaptations to its harsh environment, predation, and the many threats this animal faces throughout its habitat. Mark Jorgensen and photographer Jeff Young put their 50 years of experience into the book, published by Sunbelt Publications.

Mark Jorgensen began his studies of bighorn sheep as a teenager and continues today in retirement. His 36 year career in California State Parks was centered on Anza-Borrego. He worked as a ranger, naturalist, resource ecologist and finally as superintendent of California’s largest state park. He has been a member of the technical staff of the Desert Bighorn Council and is an advisor to the Bighorn Institute. He presents educational programs about desert bighorn sheep throughout the western states and has worked to establish desert parks in Mongolia, United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia. He’s also given scientific presentations on state park resource management in Israel.