Trout streams are meant to be filled with trout.

But during a recent cleanup event in Butler County, 12 members of the Butler Junior. High School Trout Club removed more than a ton of junk from the Connoquenessing Creek.

The students were assisted by eight adults, who together filled 125 bags with trash from the creek and its banks during the cleanup event, held March 19 as part of a statewide effort. Most of the junk washed into the stream during floods last fall.

The cleanup day was organized and sponsored by the state Department of Environmental Protection, Department of Transportation, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission. It is the second year for the event.

"This is exactly the type of shared commitment from residents, neighborhood groups, nonprofit organizations, government agencies and businesses that can help to prevent litter and improve our surroundings," said Kathleen McGinty, secretary of the state DEP in a department news release.

Another main cleanup event will be happening April 23 in conjunction with Earth Day. Other cleanups, such as the one March 19, are held throughout the spring.

Last year, more than 182,000 residents took part in more than 5,100 organized cleanup projects, removing more than 233,000 garbage bags of trash from Pennsylvania's waterways, roadways and communities.

This is the second year the trout club participated in the cleanup day and the sixth year the club has done a major cleanup project in the Butler community, said David Andrews, the club's faculty sponsor.

Andrews said many private landowners in the county have posted their property along trout streams because of littering and poor angler behavior.

"A lot of people in the area are noticing a difference, and the kids are seeing the benefits, too," Andrews said in the press release.

Andrews and his group will be back on April 23 for another cleanup project, this time with the Connoquenessing Watershed Alliance.

Anyone who wants to register to participate in the April 23 cleanup event should visit the DEP's Web site at www.dep.state.pa.us or call the toll-free hotline at 888-548-8372.