Gregg Shields, spokesman for the national BSA, said Boy Scouts tend to pay more on the national level because they have a more complicated organization that provides more services than most other groups.

"Without any disrespect to other youth-serving organizations, BSA is unique in many ways," he said. That includes overseeing thousands of local groups, vast properties and camps, "insurance, magazines for youths and adults, and program offerings such as national and international jamborees that no other organization can tout."

He said, "BSA's 7,000 employees represent one employee for each 171 volunteers and one employee for each 657 youths. These are extraordinary numbers for a service organization."

Shields said Williams, who had 33 years of experience in 2005, was worth his salary as he oversaw a budget of $170 million and 304 local Scout councils.

Shields said, "Williams led the organization through a difficult transition period. This included finding new sponsors for packs, troops and crews that had been chartered by public schools." Also, he said Scouts increased financial stability during his tenure and enjoyed recent growth in the number of youths and adults involved in Scouting.

Also, Shields said all BSA pay ranges are set by volunteer boards and reviewed by independent third-party compensation experts regularly. The national organization is funded largely through registration paid by individual Scouts (the LDS Church itself pays registration for Scouts in units that it sponsors).

Local differences

Locally, Scout leaders say their salaries are higher than other youth groups because their organizations are larger and their jobs require longer hours and more skills.

Powell, the retired executive from the Utah National Parks Council, said, "When people asked what I do, I said name any 10 careers and a Scout executive touches them."

He said that includes being an educator, human relations director, salesman, promoter, organizer, disciplinarian "and sometimes a security guard, a plumber, a custodian or a garbage man if that is what the job requires."

He adds, "Most professional Scouters leave the position simply because their spouse can't take the hours or the schedule or the living circumstances that we often find ourselves in. They may want their husband home at 5 p.m. or on the weekends, but that is just not the case in professional Scouting."

A big difference in Utah is how many Scouts each of the three councils serve.