Insensitive fences should go soon

Megan Bennett’s cover story on Cochiti Pueblo fencing off access to the historic Camino Real route was profoundly troubling. What a needless affront this was and is to the good people of La Bajada Village and all who’ve known that route over three centuries.

The news hit home with me. Last year, I walked down and up the short but twisty road from the top of the mesa to the village with “The Happiness Walker,” a young woman making her way across America entirely on foot. Not allowed to walk on I-25, she asked if I knew how she might walk from Santa Fe to Albuquerque? I was pleased to tell her I knew the way — out Agua Fria on the historic Camino Real (and original Route 66), then down the switchbacks to the little village and on to the Duke City.

As we walked the ancient dirt road, we saw nothing to justify the claims of Jacob Pecos, named in Bennett’s story as Cochiti’s environmental authority. His assertion that the route “has been used inappropriately in a lot of ways” and his guess that damage and litter comes from hikers and tourists appeared completely unfounded on our walk. We saw not a bottle or any other human insult along the way (other than the ancient road itself). Nothing but this breathtaking and challenging route both up and down, as it has been for years and years.

Cochiti’s hand on a portion of La Bajada hill goes back only 30 years. Yet this has been an essential part of village livelihood for 300 continuous years. Those fences are insensitive at best. Posted threats of $500 fines make me wonder if there was some deeper motivation. Sooner or later, the fencing will be gone or at least moved. For everyone’s happiness, the sooner the better.