The Martha’s Vineyard’s Wampanoag tribe is preparing to mount a legal challenge to the Cape Wind project.

In a press release this week, the tribe announced it had retained counsel and gave as its reason the fact that the federal Interior Department had declined their latest request for a meeting to discuss the latest — and probably the last — formal report on the project.

Ironically that advice, delivered to the Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, two weeks ago, by the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP), recommended against approval of the 130-turbine development on Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound.

Tribal leaders believe the refusal to hear again from them indicates that Mr. Salazar intends to ignore the ACHP recommendation.

Mr. Salazar already has held several meetings, on the Vineyard, the Cape and in Washington, with tribal interests opposed to the plan to build a wind farm.

“Because our government-to-government meeting request with the Department of the Interior to follow up on the ACHP’s recommendation will not be honored, we can only reasonably conclude that the Secretary may move ahead with approval of the project,” the tribe press release said.

“We are thoroughly disheartened and disappointed with any approval that will cause such a devastating and irreversible effect on this sacred site,” it also said.

The release said approval of Cape Wind would not only affect the tribe, but would set a bad precedent, allowing for the “blatant disregard” for the sacred sites and religious practices of Indians elsewhere.

The tribe has retained attorney Samantha Greendeer, of Madison, Wisc., who has experience in preserving tribal sacred sites, they said.

The Wampanoag tribes on the Cape and Vineyard oppose the project on the basis that the turbines would interfere with traditional customs relating to the greeting of the rising sun and cause damage to what they regard as a sacred site in the Sound.

Some 5,000 years ago, Horseshoe Shoal was dry land. The tribes believe any development could destroy archeological evidence of their forebears’ existence there.

The claims have become the final hurdle in the approval process for the development, which has been mired in controversy for much of its eight-year history.

Various groups concerned about the potential impact of the development on fishing, air and sea traffic, bird life and scenic views have opposed Cape Wind.

The wind park developers also have come into conflict with several towns on the Cape and Islands, and the Cape Cod Commission, over the issuing of development permits.

They eventually gained the go-ahead at the state level after the Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board agreed to bundle and grant all the state and local permits needed to build the giant wind farm.

That decision is still subject to legal proceedings pending in the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

After a final environmental impact assessment by the federal Minerals Management Service came out in January identifying no lasting major adverse impacts on wildlife, navigation, fishing, tourism or recreation, approval for the project seemed all but certain.

Then the Indian tribes began to press their concerns.

The state historic preservation officer, Brona Simon, made a finding supporting the tribes’ claim that the proposed wind farm would interfere with tribal cultural practices.

The federal National Parks Service backed Ms. Simon, ruling that Nantucket Sound was eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

This prompted a round of meetings in January between Secretary Salazar and various stakeholders, including the tribes, the proponents and other groups which supported or opposed Cape Wind.

Mr. Salazar announced a period for public comment, ending Feb. 12, and also gave the parties until March 1 to reach a compromise agreement, failing which he would decide the issue.

The developers offered $1 million to each of the tribes, but the offer was rejected and there was no compromise. And the matter went back to the Interior Department.

The ACHP report not only found the Cape Wind development would damage the tribes’ interests, but also would adversely affect a total of 34 historic properties on the Cape and Islands, including the Nantucket historic district and the Kennedy family compound at Hyannis Port.

Opponents of the development have seized on the ACHP finding as vindication of their position. Meanwhile, supporters have seized on the overwhelming number of public comments advocating Cape Wind.

Some three-quarters of the 1,600-odd comments, including submissions by a number of the country’s major environmental organizations, supported the development.

So now it comes back to Secretary Salazar, who has promised a decision by the end of this month. But, as the tribe’s statement of this week indicates, it appears likely the matter will not end there.