“Over the past four decades, the Arizona Lottery has paid nearly $10.5 billion in prizes to players and more than $1.1 billion to retailers in commissions. More importantly, the Arizona Lottery has returned over $4.8 billion to many vital state programs and services that would otherwise rely on tax dollars for their funding.” Arizona Lottery Executive Director Gregg Edgar said the Arizona Lottery has made a substantial financial contribution over four decades to the state for programs in environmental conservation, higher education, health and human services, and economic and business development. “We’re celebrating 40 years of giving back to the community, and we’re proud to have transferred more than $4.8 billion, through ticket sales, to vital programs and services throughout the state,” Edgar said. “Our ‘Gives Back’ sponsorships, totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars every year, are funded with Arizona Lottery marketing dollars. These unique partnerships help nonprofits across Arizona accomplish their missions while helping the Arizona Lottery to tell its story.”

The Arizona Lottery recently marked its 40th anniversary by unveiling a “big win” on a giant 30-foot Scratchers ticket in Downtown Phoenix. 

The ticket revealed a $40,000 Gives Back Sponsorship to Save Our Saguaros, a National Forest Foundation effort to mitigate wildfire threats across Arizona’s national forests and to ensure the future of this iconic desert species.

Gov. Doug Ducey congratulated the Arizona Lottery, stating that 40 years of ticket sales have translated to a big win for Arizona.

“On this day that we celebrate our 110th year as a state, we also celebrate the 40th anniversary of the lottery in Arizona,” he said on Feb. 14. 

“Over the past four decades, the Arizona Lottery has paid nearly $10.5 billion in prizes to players and more than $1.1 billion to retailers in commissions. More importantly, the Arizona Lottery has returned over $4.8 billion to many vital state programs and services that would otherwise rely on tax dollars for their funding.”

Arizona Lottery Executive Director Gregg Edgar said the Arizona Lottery has made a substantial financial contribution over four decades to the state for programs in environmental conservation, higher education, health and human services, and economic and business development.

“We’re celebrating 40 years of giving back to the community, and we’re proud to have transferred more than $4.8 billion, through ticket sales, to vital programs and services throughout the state,” Edgar said. 

“Our ‘Gives Back’ sponsorships, totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars every year, are funded with Arizona Lottery marketing dollars. These unique partnerships help nonprofits across Arizona accomplish their missions while helping the Arizona Lottery to tell its story.”

Measuring 30 feet high, 15 feet wide and 6 feet deep, the Arizona Lottery’s giant Scratchers ticket was built over several hours on Feb. 11 in the Legends Entertainment District next to the Footprint Arena. Throughout the weekend, players 21 and older scanned a QR code on the bottom of the ticket into the Arizona Lottery’s Players Club, where they entered the 40th anniversary drawing for a chance to win one of 40 $400 e-gift cards.

During the Feb. 14 event, emcee Gayle Bass, broadcast journalist and host of the nationally syndicated television show “Right This Minute,” ascended some 15 feet in a scissor lift to help peel off a section of the ticket for the big reveal.

“We designed our giant Scratchers ticket to be educational, interactive and fun, and our big reveal this morning to the National Forest Foundation’s effort, Save Our Saguaros, in many ways symbolizes the Arizona Lottery’s giant commitment to preserving a vital part of our state’s future. Many people don’t realize that the saguaro is a keystone species. Widespread loss of saguaros would be devastating to our desert ecosystem,” Edgar said.

Unnatural wildfire and fire-prone invasive grasses are threatening saguaros, which is a key reason the Arizona Lottery chose to support the NFF’s Save Our Saguaros’ effort with a Gives Back Sponsorship. The funds will benefit conservation work on the Tonto National Forest in central Arizona and in southern Arizona’s Coronado National Forest. Both habitats are part of the scenic Sonoran Desert.

Rebecca Davidson, the National Forest Foundation’s Southwest regional director, was at the Arizona Lottery event to witness the big reveal of the $40,000 Gives Back Sponsorship to the NFF’s Save Our Saguaros effort.

“The saguaro cactus has evolved to thrive in the harsh and arid Sonoran Desert, and it can continue to survive, even in times of drought” Davidson said. “But with the rapid expansion of nonnative grasses, like buffelgrass and fountain grass, saguaros and Arizona’s desert landscapes are at threat.”

Davidson explained how Arizona Lottery funds will support the NFF’s Save Our Saguaros effort.

“Invasive grasses fueled the June 2020 Bush Fire on the Tonto National Forest, which burned an approximate 194,000 acres into the Four Peaks Wilderness Area, impacting more than 80,000 iconic saguaros. Working with the Forest Service and other community partners, Arizona Lottery funds will help us establish a cacti and saguaro nursery so we can replant and restore portions of the scarred habitat,” she said.

Arizona Lottery funds will also catalyze NFF’s Save Our Saguaros effort on the Coronado National Forest which focuses on management and treatment of invasive grasses across hundreds of acres of Sonoran Desert habitat in the Tucson area.

“Through continued treatment we are hoping to avoid ignition of buffelgrass-fueled fires, which can carry fire swiftly, scorching plants and soils, ultimately converting a rich desert ecosystem into a monoculture of buffelgrass in a very short time,” she said.

“When lightning sparked the Bighorn Fire in June 2020, it quickly burned over 120,000 acres of Sonoran Desert in the Santa Catalina Mountains, and the Tucson community was devastated. Luckily, no harm came to people and homes and structures were protected, but it was a wake-up call to the immediacy of treatment need on national forests and in adjacent neighborhoods.”

Davidson said that while treatment reduces threats on some acres, it is expensive work, and land managers require additional partners and resources to manage and eliminate the invasive species.

“Truly, time is of the essence to protect our iconic saguaro cacti. Together with the Forest Service, we’re working to raise awareness about the importance of these issues, and get acres treated and cacti reestablished, and that’s why we’re so grateful for the support of organizations like the Arizona Lottery and our other community partners,” she said.