who said, 'Are we paying our professionals well enough to attract good people and to keep them?'

"That's an indicator to me that not only are we paying fair compensation, but it is the desire of our constituency to do so," he said.

Baird adds, "We do some bad things to our professionals. ... We kill them; we overwork them. Nationwide, an average unit-serving executive would serve on the high side maybe 50 to 60 units. In the Utah National Parks Council, it is 200-plus units."

Of note, councils nationally of sizes similar to those in Utah (according to BSA rankings) average 12 employees making more than $50,000 a year. The average among all 293 councils for whom Forms 990 could be located was just two employees earning more than that amount.

By comparison

Professional Scouting appears to be one of the better-paying occupations in Utah.

The Utah Department of Workforce Services reports that the highest average salary for any occupation it surveys is $193,960 annually for obstetricians/gynecologists. Moore's 2005 compensation (salary and benefits) was higher at $201,000 (and is currently $214,000).

Moore has 36 years of experience and a bachelor's degree. Obstetricians need a bachelor's plus four years of medical school and four years of residency.

The 2005 compensation (salary and benefits) of Powell, who retired in September as chief of the Orem-based Utah National Parks Council, was $161,413. That is higher than the average salary that the state reported for all physicians here, $153,920.

The 2005 compensation of Barnes at the Ogden-based Trapper Trails Council was $122,153. That is a bit below what the state reported as the average wage here for a lawyer, at $123,926. It is a bit above the average salary for psychiatrists, at $120,598.

The new entry-level wage for Scout executives nationally is now $36,700. That is just below the average Utah wage for all jobs in 2005 — $37,700 — as reported by U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

While the top professional Scouters in Utah may make a lot compared to other professions here, they may be underpaid compared to leaders of other councils of similar size.

The BSA groups councils into seven different size categories based on the number of overall youths living in an area, youths in traditional Scout programs, youths in all Scouting programs, number of Scout professionals and total operating income. The three Utah councils are in the second-largest of the groupings, just below the "super-sized" councils.

The average 2005 compensation for top Scout executives at councils in their category nationally was $238,439 — meaning all the Utah executives earned less than average.