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Discarded Christmas trees have been delivered to Rocky Top Resources, converted to mulch and the mulch delivered to Queens. Landscapers and homeowners have provided other kinds of organic materials, and the Homebuilders Association of the Pikes Peak Region has donated topsoil from building sites. Over 110,000 cubic yards of such material has been delivered to Queens Canyon. Castle Concrete provides the labor and equipment to combine the material and spread the resuhing topsoil on the sites designated for tree planting. On occasion there have been unwanted "donations" of gazbage and junk that have had to be hauled to the landfill, and volunteers have been recruited to monitor deliveries to prevent such dumping. The quarries have offered students numerous opportunities to team geology, botany and ecology, and Gave provided a link to nature for those who have little access to wild places. Examples include a group of American Express Travel Division employees, most of whom were from New York, who worked as a tree maintenance crew at Queens Canyon Quarry. Their goal was to "give something back to nature" and at the same time develop team-building skills. Zachary Frank, as a sophomore high school stude~, won three awards for a science project on Queens Canyon titled "Mountain Reclamation: The Effects of Soil Composition on Tree Growth." His project received an award from the Horticultural Arts Society of Colorado Springs, won the U.S. Army's Best Environmental Project award, and placed third in the biology category in the Pikes Peak Region Science Farr. Seventy-five members of the Garden Club of America surveyed the progress at Queens Canyon in August 1998 as part of a meeting of the group's Conservation and National Affairs and Legislation committees. Queens Canyon Quarry has become a popular destination for EI Paso County's students, who have come by the busload to plant trees and learn from the mountain. They have come from the Air Force Academy, Colorado College, CU-Springs, District 11, District 20, Cheyenne Mountain High School and The Colorado Springs School to learn about reclamation through a hands~n experience. Sixty freshmen from CU-Springs worked as a tree maintenance crew at Queens Canyon site as part of their community orientation. A teacher at The Colorado Springs School uses Queens Canyon as a teaming tool. Her sixth grade science cumculum begins with a unit on erosion in which students experiment with models to examine, on a small scale, the causes and effects of runoff and lack of flora. The students then plant trees in the quarry, which provides them with an opportunity to apply what they have learned in class. The significant story about the mountain scars issue in Colorado Springs and El Paso County is the transformation of the community's attitude toward the quarries during the past 10 years. The community and Castle Concrete have moved from being opponents to being partners in the restoration of the community's scenic backdrop. Castle Concrete has given up some of its mine reserve to protect the scenic quality of the foothills and is working with the community to achieve the reclamation objectives that the community wants. People in the community have gained an understanding of the role the quarries played in the development of Colorado Springs and what can be achieved with the reclamation effort. They have also learned about the benefits that the quarries provide as wildlife habitat and as a laboratory for studying biological and earth sciences and natural resources management. The enhanced reclamation process will continue for many years, and a firm foundation has been developed to continue the effort and resolve issues as they may arise. ~~)