Volunteers from across the state joined Moab staff and volunteers including the Moab Friends-for-Wheelin' off-road club on Saturday to help reclaim motorized and mechanized trails, build fences and remove structures, and scrub away signs and markings painted on the rock throughout the newly named Moab Rim Preserve.

William Lowder saw a flier at Salt Lake City Community College and decided to make the weekend trip as a working vacation.

"I thought it was a great opportunity to come down here for the weekend," he said as he moved rocks and shoveled dirt to fill in an unwanted downhill mountain bike trail. Returning the landscape to nature makes sense, Lowder said, because man-made off-road trails are out of place among the craggy rock and fragile desert soils of the steep cliffs.

"There's so much area for that kind of activity anyway. So many acres that get a lot of use," he said. "It's good that they're restoring some of it."

Two years after completing the tram, Mays saw his dream dissolve into bankruptcy. Moab businessman Scott McFarland purchased the 160-acre property and transformed it into the Moab Adventure Park, adding a maze of mountain bike and off-road obstacle courses, and opening up the area for competitive rock-crawling events. But in 2004, the tram once again sat idle, and McFarland agreed the following year to sell.

A road through the property connects the Moab Rim Trail with the Behind the Rocks Trail, a route popular with off-road enthusiasts, hikers, and mountain bikers. But the conservancy was most interested in the land because it is located directly between a wilderness study area and the conservancy's 890-acre Scott M. Matheson Wetlands Preserve - the only remaining natural wetlands along the Colorado River - which provides refuge for about 220 bird species.

The acreage is also home to several rare plant species, including as much as one-third of all Canyonlands lomatium in the world. The yellow-flowering plant, also known as the Canyonlands biscuitroot, grows in rocky crags throughout the Canyonlands region.

Throughout the week, the Lone Peak Hot Shots fire crew worked to tear out a massive observation deck surrounding the building that once was a snack shop and office for the tram. And members of the Moab Friends-for-Wheelin' removed a chain link fence and constructed a new wooden rail fence near the top of the rim. On Saturday, club members installed signs along the Moab Rim Trail to help keep drivers on the main route. Jeff Stevens said the off-road club pitched in because members want to be good neighbors.

"We're trying to be friendly with The Nature Conservancy so they have no problem with us coming through their property on this old trail," Stevens said. "We were glad to help."

Stevens said he enjoyed using some of the trails located in the now-defunct adventure park, but he understands why the conservancy would want to close them.

"The park was fun. But it was also destructive," he said. "Now it belongs to The Nature Conservancy and they don't want people driving and riding their bikes all over the place. And that's OK."

Involving groups like the Moab Friends-for-Wheelin' and the Red Rock 4-Wheelers helps make the project more successful because the clubs feel involved in helping protect the area from cross-country travel, said Sue Bellagamba, director of the project for The Nature Conservancy.

"Our goal is to protect the biological resources," she said. "To do that, we need to desig- nate one route for the motorized and mechanized communities. The Moab Rim Trail is the historic route, and it's also the route that the county is claiming. The more we manage our surrounding property together, the easier it's going to be for all the users."

By Bellagamba's count, more than 300 volunteer hours went into the week-long restoration project. But there is more work to do, she said. The conservancy will likely have to hire a helicopter to remove the boards and debris from the old observation deck, and more trail work is needed to completely erase signs of the adventure park routes. But Bellagamba said the volunteers made a big dent in the work.

"I am just amazed and extremely pleased by how much work we've gotten done," she said. "This makes a big difference for us. It's been a huge help."

lchurch@citlink.net