MCCAMMON — Volunteers pulled soggy carpet and cleared stacked rocks and other man-made materials from the Goodenough Creek to clear a passage through the stream for the Yellowstone cutthroat trout.

    As part of the 10th Annual National Lands Conservation System’s Anniversary, local Boys Scouts from Pack 865 and Pack 850 participated in the an effort the remove man-made dams and pools from the Goodenough Creek Saturday afternoon.

    Duval Beck, a 10-year-old  Boy Scout Webelos from Arimo, said it was fun to do a community service project with friends that included items of interest in the outdoors environment.

    “We saw insects and things people left in the river like mattresses and carpet,” Beck said. “We cleaned up the river so the water would flow right.”

    Approximately 30 Boy Scouts and family volunteers gathered trash from the Goodenough Creek Campground.

    About seven man-made dams were broken-up. Some had been made of rocks to create pools, others had carpet — creating a smooth place to sit — and one dam included a rusty mattress one volunteer suspected as being used as a bathtub in the creek.

    Pack 865 Cubmaster Heidi Owen said the pack does one community service project a year.

    “We get one in for a World Conservation Award,” Owen said. “It’s a great way to have them be involved.”

    Chuck Patterson, the outdoor recreation planner for the Rocky Field Office of the Bureau of Land Management in Pocatello, told the scouts of the importance of what they were doing.

    He described the federal public land as a home that belongs to everyone. He asked the group if they enjoy it when someone trashes their home.

    “We also don’t want people trashing our campgrounds or the places where we like to hike or fish,” Patterson said. “So when people do trash it, who are the housekeepers?”

    The Boy Scouts and volunteers responded that they were the housekeepers.

    Patterson said that volunteer help is crucial to the keeping public lands in good shape. He said a troop from the Girl Scouts of the Silver Sage Council was coming later in the afternoon to trim trees and beautify some if the campground area.

    An Irving Middle School eighth-grader, 13-year-old Cody van Haalen, was looking for an opportunity put in six hours of community service required for a health class requirement.

    “I’m just getting in the water and getting dirty having fun,” van Haalen said. “I was never really aware there were that many fish going through the creek.”

    Van Haalen and former Pack 865 leader Earl Owen had the honors of pulling carpet growing moss and other things from the creek.

    The United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management Web site, www.blm.gov, described the systems project as:

    “The long-term vision guiding the NLCS is to conserve, protect, and restore the System’s lands, cultural and historic resources, and waters for future generations – enhancing the BLM’s mission to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.”

    Patterson said there are volunteer opportunities year round through the BLM and the Forest Service.