Anne Arundel County officials have shut down a volunteer project to extend a cross-country bike trail at the Bacon Ridge Natural Area in Annapolis, saying the work needs review because it may have veered off the path.

In a letter to volunteer leader Michael Klasmeier, Rick Anthony, the county’s director of recreation and parks, said additional work would not be approved until an archaeological survey is completed, impromptu bridges are reviewed for safety and a survey can be conducted to determine if the southern end of the trail crossed onto private land next to the 540-acre preserve.

“Further, any future phases must include a completed and reviewed archaeological study and a plan for additional access and parking,” Anthony wrote in a letter dated last week.

Nina Fisher, president of the Scenic Rivers Land Trust, said a staff member from her group and the county went out last week to inspect the work done by volunteers after hearing that it might have gone beyond agreed-upon limits. The trust holds an easement on the county-owned land with the Maryland Environmental Trust.

The volunteers had permission to perform a “rake and ride,” in which areas are combed to remove obstacles to safe off-road bicycling.

“They went beyond that on a portion of the trail and have dug in, 12 inches,” Fisher said. “They’re actually gone below the surface by pulling away the soil.”

Klasmeier, who heads the project and also owns the Trailwerks Cyclery in Annapolis, said in a column this past week for the Baltimore Sun Media Group that the trail has been “designed with the lowest possible environmental impact, with input from regional experts and hand-built by hundreds of local volunteers learning the why’s and how’s and best practices of sustainable natural-surface trail construction.”

He added that the county’s “most recent shutdown of construction is without merit and follows a pattern of mismanagement and inexperience with natural surface trails. ... This project should have taken eight months to complete, but here we are four years later and we are still waiting for clarity on what the county needs from us to allow construction.”

The Bacon Ridge Project started building trails in Bacon Ridge Natural Area in 2015, according to TrailWerks’ website. Phase two of the project was completed in December 2016.

Phase three would have connected the trail system to Farm Road, added more parking areas and expanded trails into the northernmost sections of the natural area. The county-owned property includes a stretch of Bacon Ridge Branch, a tributary of the South River.

Earlier this month, Klasmeier said the group has built 6.2 miles of trail, and phase three would have brought that to 16 miles. He said the trails have been life-changing for some, getting them outdoors to exercise and connect with their families.

He said in last month that the county government has been difficult at every turn, making it hard for them to build the trail for free. Klasmeier held an August fundraiser for Steuart Pittman, the Democratic challenger to incumbent County Executive Steve Schuh, and project organizers posted a statement on their Facebook page last Friday calling for political action.

“Our current county exec has decided to shut down construction of phase 3. After 2 years of delays, they are still unsure of our plans for Bacon Ridge. Please call the county exec’s office and express yourself. Pittman is running against him and is supporting outdoor recreation in the county. Please vote Nov 6th,” the post reads.

Owen McEvoy, a spokesman for Schuh, said the project would continue but recent problems had to be corrected.

“We are not killing it,” he said. “We’re not stopping it. We just need to talk with the volunteers.”

rhutzell@capgaznews.com