BEAR MOUNTAIN — About 200 people last night urged the Palisades Interstate Park Commission to open the trails in Storm King State Park, which were closed in 1999 after forest fires detonated unexploded ordnance.

The public meeting at the Bear Mountain Inn last night drew people from throughout the greater metropolitan area who want to see the state park in Orange County — a Hudson River landscape that is the gateway to the Highlands region — reopened.

The people pushed a plan that would let the public enjoy the landmark property immediately, while federal support is sought for a long-term cleanup.

"The trails should be opened as soon as possible," said Barbara Erdsneker of Nyack. "And the people in Washington should be convinced to fund the cleanup."

"I support opening up the trails," agreed Peter Kohlberger of Warwick. "It's a shame such a beautiful area has been closed for so long."

Scenic Hudson and other environmental advocates asked the commission, which manages Storm King, to open a portion of the site that already has been cleared of military materials and offered to help install signs.

"The Army has swept 25 feet to the left and right of the trails and believes them to be safe in two-thirds of the park," said Neil Woodworth, a lawyer for the Adirondack Mountain Club and the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference. "But in Sector B — a 456-acre area closest to West Point and east of Route 9W that has some of the most popular trails in the public sector — the Army found 75mm howitzer shells."

Environmentalists and hiking groups are afraid that hikers who stray off the trails and hunters who use the area will encounter unexploded shells.

Chuck Stead, a delegate at large for the Rockland County Conservation Association, wondered if hunters would heed the warnings.

"We have people who have hiked for years in this area without incident," Woodworth said. "But in 1999, when firefighters went in to fight the forest fires, some of these shells blew up."

Cornwall Fire Chief Patrick Hines recalled the fires that put his crews in danger. "I don't want to send my guys into any place again that has unexploded ordnance," he said.

Disposing of the ordnance is a question of cost. Army Corps of Engineers Project Manager James T. Moore estimated it would take $5 million to $7 million to completely clean up Sector B.

Storm King Mountain dominates the rugged Hudson River gorge near Cornwall-on-Hudson. Beginning in 1963, Scenic Hudson endured a 17-year effort to save the mountain from a proposed Con Edison power plant. The fight is credited with launching the nation's grass-roots environmentalism.

"Storm King State Park is sacred ground to hikers and conservationists," Woodworth said. "It would be a horrible fate for one of our proudest state parks to be relegated as a hazardous-waste site for an indefinite period."

Environmental activists want the park cleaned up by the end of 2004, Woodworth said, adding that this gives Congress time to plan for it in the next budget cycle.

"I'm concerned about the sustained political push it's going to take," said Jill Hamell of Parsippany, N.J., a member of several of the hiking groups.

Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-Saugerties, whose district includes parts of Sullivan and Orange counties, and Rep. Sue Kelly, R-Katonah, whose district includes parts of Orange and Westchester counties, Stony Point and parts of Haverstraw, represent the area.

"We're asking our congressional delegation to say that you can't treat a popular park within several hours' drive of 45 million people like some formerly used defense site in the Nevada or Utah desert," Woodworth said. "Spending $5 million to remove live artillery shells from a major state park in the lower Hudson Valley would be a very prudent investment."

Woodworth said it appears the Corps of Engineers' schedule would have the park's marked trails opened by Oct. 1.

Moore said the Army had tested artillery between the 1840s and 1960s by shooting shells from the Cold Spring Foundry and the West Point Cemetery into the vicinity of Storm King Mountain.

The Corps of Engineers reported that all the hiking trails and 25 feet to either side are cleared of unexploded ammunition to a depth of one foot, and that all hiking trails and 1,488 acres of parkland are safe for public use with appropriate signage.

"The Army Corps of Engineers currently lacks the budgetary resources to complete the project within a reasonable timeline," said Leathem Mehaffey, land stewardship manager at Scenic Hudson.

"Scenic Hudson is committed to a high level of safety for the public, which is why we are pushing for additional federal support to fully remedy a condition that has been the federal government's own making."