"This is a park, and it's not appropriate to have all this trash there," said Adrienne Bryant, a Montclair resident and member of the Shepherd Canyon Homeowners Association who helped organize the Aug. 12-13 clean-up. "Trash begets more trash."

They worked alongside city employees from the Parks and Recreation department as well as Public Works litter enforcement officers -- half of whom were laid off last week. The group collected dumped materials that Bryant and pubic works staff described as varied and huge -- such as cars, motorcycles, refrigerators and mattresses. The city's infrastructure division brought a winch truck, usually used for hauling trees out of remote areas of Oakland, to the canyon. They attached a cable to the junk, and pulled it up to the street.

"All this heavy stuff that couldn't be carried away was thrown into the canyon," said Dan Gallagher, director of tree services. "All we did was get it to the road."

Maintenance workers then hauled it away.

The clean-up was one of several abatement projects in the 34-acre Shepherd Canyon Park over the past few years, and part of a long-range plan to renovate it. In 2002, volunteers teamed up with the city for six days to collect household furniture and appliances abandoned and rusting for years, Bryant said.

Future park improvements are in the works, said Sue Piper, policy analyst for District 4 Councilwoman Jean Quan. The Shepherd Canyon Homeowners Association is working with the city to enhance the soccer fields with a parking lot, a better pathway from the Shepherd Canyon Fire Station to the fields and a small amphitheater around them. Demonstration gardens filled with native and fire-resistant plants are also planned.

The funding sources, total budget and timeline remain unclear because the city and homeowners association are considering each improvement one at a time, Piper said.

"The idea is to dream big and break it up into small chunks," Piper said. "It's going to be a rustic kind of park, but it will improve its effectiveness."

Reach Bruce Gerstman at (510) 748-1681 or by e-mail at bgerstman@cctimes.com.