Approximately 50 west-siders stood in a circle in Manitou Springs' Memorial Park at noon on Saturday with heads bowed for a moment of silence. Their silence wasn't for the dearly departed, but instead was part of a ritual the Catamount Institute often performs before outdoor events to let participants soak in their environment. Before the ambiance of the sunny Saturday afternoon could turn too transcendental, Catamount science educator Nichole Johnson told the volunteers it was time.

The group broke apart to pick up trash from the Fountain Creek Watershed, bringing their smaller hauls back to three separate checkpoints at Memorial, Shriver, and Soda Springs parks where they were consolidated using 55-gallon trash bags donated by Safeway and weighed for posterity.

Saturday's "Fountain Creek Spring Cleanup" was attended by multiple local groups, including the Iraq Veterans Against the War and members of the Catamount-sponsored Young Environmental Stewards (YES) program from Manitou Springs Elementary.

By 2 p.m., 447 pounds of trash had been collected, of which 124 pounds were able to be recycled. Johnson said the largest amounts of litter were found near Ute Spring; one volunteer witnessed a citizen dump a full-size mattress in the area while she was picking up trash!

The cleanup was the brainchild of the YES program offered at five local schools through Catamount: Ivywild, Lincoln, Manitou, Summit, and Columbine elementary schools.

"Some schools are researching ways to do environmental conservation," said Johnson. "They went to businesses along Fountain Creek to see what they knew and what we could do to help. The kids eventually decided to do a Fountain Creek community cleanup in the city."

Saturday's program featured YES students primarily from Manitou Springs Elementary. Johnson contacted private property owners along the creek to get permission for volunteers to walk on their land before the event; coordinated the trash check points; and helped to collect the recycled Wal-Mart, Safeway, and Whole Foods sacks volunteers used to store the trash they collected during the event.

YES is a 13-week program that has approximately four weeks left. Much of the work the group has done will be featured in conjunction with Catamount's Creek Connections program at the April 22 Research Symposium from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Colorado College Worner Center.