Stick structures a hazard, Forest Service officials say

Whoever is building tepee-shaped structures out of sticks in the Santa Fe National Forest, forest managers want you to stop.

The number of these conical creations — some as tall as two stories and 20 feet or more in diameter — popping up in the mountains northeast of Santa Fe seems to be on the rise, and Forest Service officials said in a news release Friday that they are concerned about what they say are “significant health and safety hazards posed by these structures.”

A volunteer recently showed Española Ranger District employees seven or eight of these stick structures off Tesuque Peak Road at Aspen Vista, the release said. At least 10 more have been reported below the Aspen Vista picnic area, and they also have been spotted on the Winsor Trail and in the Big Tesuque drainage.

“The structures are elaborately constructed out of 1,000 or more individual sticks or logs,” the statement said. “The wood is seasoned and dry, and the design is similar to a classic kindling pyramid but on a much larger scale. And to exacerbate the obvious fire danger, people appear to be using fire rings inside many of the structures.”

Española District Ranger Sandy Hurlocker cited what she said was a high risk of these structures collapsing or catching on fire, possibly touching off a catastrophic forest fire.

The release also said construction of these structures is illegal under a federal law that makes violators punishable by a fine of not more than $5,000 for individuals and $10,000 for organizations, imprisonment of not more than six months, or both.