The rank of Eagle is the most coveted award in American Boy Scouting, and in Utah almost three times as many boys earn the prestigious honor than the national average.
Nationally, 3.9 percent of Scouts earn the Eagle rank. For the combined three Scout councils in Utah, the total is 11 percent.
Tom Hunsaker, program director for the Trapper Trails Council, stressed that Utah doesn't produce more Eagle Scouts because its leaders make attaining the award any easier, despite a myth to the contrary.
"Utah isn't a merit badge mill," he said. "We don't make it any easier."
He attributes Utah's higher-than-average number of Eagles to a higher density of available young men enrolled. The Trapper Trails Council has 60 percent of all the eligible young men in its borders involved with Scouting, and 1,276 Scouts earned the Eagle rank in 2002.
Paul Tikalsky Jr., director of finance and marketing for the Great Salt Lake Council, agrees.
"The biggest reason is there's more Scouts here," he said.
He said more than 60 percent of all boys in Utah are Scouts. That figure is only 23 percent in Seattle, for example, and 19 percent nationally.
Hunsaker believes strong family support in Utah may be another factor. The predominant religion, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, stresses that quality and is also the main Scout sponsors in the state.
Tikalsky believes the LDS Church sponsorship may also create an atmosphere that helps produce more Eagles than the national average.
"Our kids are more goal-oriented," he said.
To further his belief that Utah Scouts don't get breaks earning the Eagle rank, he said his council's statistics show that about 75 percent of all Eagles are in the 16-17 age group. That means it took them four to five years to advance to the Eagle rank.
Nationally, and in Utah, the percentage of Eagle Scouts is slightly increasing each year.
Rene Fairer, associate director for external communications at the Boy Scouts of America national office in Irving, Texas, attributes this upward trend to improved leadership and better goal-setting.
"We're attempting to raise a generation of superkids," she said.
Fairer said another trend is that Eagles nationally are getting younger, even though the actual requirements for the honor have gotten a little harder in recent years.
Eagle Scouts must earn 21 merit badges, including some required ones. They also have to start at the Tenderfoot level and advance through the ranks, finishing with an approved Eagle Scout service project.
The Eagle Scout award originated in 1911, and Tikalsky estimates more than 28,000 Eagle Scouts live in Salt Lake County.
The award also carries some scholastic value. Entrants into a U.S. military school are given an automatic upgrade if they're Eagles.
U.S. Scouts can also earn palm awards for additional merit badges beyond the 21.
Other nations have similar awards. For example, Scouts in Canada and the United Kingdom can become a Queens Scout. In Iraq, it's a Lion Scout Award.
E-MAIL: lynn@desnews.com