It was one thing — a wonderful thing at that — for banker Dale Ball, along with environmental activist Bill DeBuys and the nationally eminent Stewart Udall, and so many other dedicated Santa Feans, to have created the extensive system of trails wrapping around our community.

John Clubbe, a former college professor who's been in many places and knows the value of public open spaces, once made apt comparisons on this page between our still-developing trail network and New York's Central Park. Linked by trails, Clubbe notes, our surrounding hills offer "an unparalleled natural resource."

With 27 miles of pathways, the trail system is a close-to-town, close-to-nature complement to Santa Fe's more traditional charms — and now counts, for many, as a tourist attraction as well as another great reason for living here.

But it's another thing to maintain so extensive a system, especially with local governments squeezed by costs and reduced revenues — and that's where the new Santa Fe Trails Alliance comes in: This organization has been put together by city and county governments and representatives of the Santa Fe Conservation Trust.

In recent months alliance members have been busy bolstering eroded sections and replacing over-tromped switchbacks. So far, they've made more than 250 repairs; not bad for 50 people putting in time after work, and on weekends.

But that's only a beginning: Rici Peterson of the conservation trust figures that's only a fifth of the work that's needed. And by the time everything's done, nature and increasing numbers of hikers are sure to do further damage — despite the growing awareness that shortcuts and other off-trail scrambling should be avoided.

More volunteers, clearly, are needed. So is city and county commitment to their $30,000-a-year support, complemented with another $30,000 from the conservation trust.

This involves more than mere sweat and good will; some training is involved, and professionals at the task have turned the alliance's original 50 volunteers into an exemplary trail-maintenance team. For the many Santa Feans who love such fresh-air pursuits, training and a few hours' teamwork can be as fun and rewarding as the meandering made more pleasant.

A big challenge — and a great opportunity to meet the folks who created the trails alliance — will be a project that'll take place Friday, Oct. 2: improvements to the Dale Ball Trailhead on Sierra del Norte Road, off Hyde Park Road. Alliance members and city workers will be relocating the trailhead from the north end of the parking lot to the southeast corner. The idea is to keep hikers and bikers safe from traffic coming in and out of the parking area.

Because city crews are involved, it's a job that'll be done between 9 and noon — with a barbecue afterward. Many of the alliance's other efforts are on weekends and during after-work hours. For the group's schedules, check the Web at www.trailsallianceofsantafe.org; to sign up for the trailhead project, if you're able to find a few hours free on the first Friday of October, call Susan Spinell, the group's coordinator, at 989-7019.