The U.S. Forest Service is erecting a fence at the top of Ski Santa Fe to shield Nambé Pueblo religious ceremonies from public view.
The construction is called for in a recently completed settlement agreement between the tribe and the Forest Service.
Nambé was a plaintiff in a 2005 lawsuit originally brought by Tesuque pueblo that attempted to block the operation of Ski Santa Fe's newest chairlift.
The northern pueblos alleged that the Millennium Triple Lift, below Deception Peak, would make nearby religious sites more accessible and vulnerable to desecration.
But the litigation failed to stop construction, and the mile-long chairlift cranked up for the first time during the 2006-2007 ski season.
Nambé dismissed its claims Monday after signing the agreement with the Forest Service. Tesuque dropped its claims last year.
"I think it speaks well for the Forest Service in working with the pueblo," Nambé lawyer Ann Berkley Rodgers said Tuesday.
The agreement, which replaces a previous one signed in 1995, requires more communication and collaboration between the Forest Service and pueblo officials in working to protect cultural resources, monitor trails and provide privacy during ceremonial events.
The buck-and-pole fence now under construction will run from Millennium Lift toward the unmaintained social trail along Raven's Ridge.
Officials said the fence is not intended to be a barrier. Rather, it's a way of discouraging the public from accessing parts of the upper ridge that overlook Nambé Lake, where the tribe performs some of its private ceremonies.
"They've expressed strong interest to not have people looking over their shoulder," said Sandy Hurlocker, a ranger in the Forest Service's Española district.
The changes will not affect the majority of the Raven's Ridge trail as it snakes from the Winsor Trail through meadows and rocky outcrops to the Deception Peak area. Near the top, though, the fencing will detour the public off the ridge.
The Forest Service has also agreed to discourage access into Nambé Lake and Nambé Chutes, an area popular with backcountry skiers and snowboarders.
In a 2005 court filing, the Santa Fe Ski Co. said closing down the new ski lift would hurt the ski area financially to the tune of more than $1 million a season, eliminate up to 90 jobs and deprive northern New Mexico of millions of dollars in sales revenue.
The ski company also maintained the legal challenge was filed too late, coming five months after construction of the lift began.
In 2001, the Forest Service gave the ski company permission to expand the ski area by 75 acres and build the lift, along with the extension of three existing runs.
