A Colorado grand jury has indicted four former Oregon residents, accusing them of torching a Vail ski resort restaurant and several other buildings in 1998 in what has been described as an act of eco-terrorism.
The four indicted late Thursday are among a group of 11 alleged eco-saboteurs indicted earlier this year in Oregon and accused of cutting a swath of destruction across the West.
The Vail arsons came as local environmentalists were locked in a battle with the ski resort over the company’s controversial expansion plans into an area said to be prime lynx habitat.
At this point it appears the four had no local help in setting the fires, said Jeff Dorschner, spokesman for the Colorado U.S. attorney’s office.
Indicted were Chelsea Dawn Gerlach, 29; Stanislas Gregory Meyerhoff, 28; Josephine Sunshine Overaker, 31; and Rebecca Jeanette Rubin, 33.
Gerlach and Meyerhoff are in custody, facing similar charges in Oregon. The other two have not been apprehended and are thought to be out of the country.
Resort officials were gratified to see charges had been filed in the case.
“As we have publicly stated before, we’re pleased that the authorities continue to work so diligently on this case and will watch with interest as the case continues through the justice process,” Jen Brown, spokesperson for Vail Mountain, said in a prepared statement.
Lt. Kim Andree of the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office said the office was grateful that federal law enforcement officials devoted the resources to pursuing the crimes.
“We always believed someone would be held responsible,” she said.
In a prepared statement, Colorado U.S. Attorney Bill Leone denounced the tactics of the accused arsonists, who were said to have burned resort buildings as a protest against encroachment on lynx habitat.
“No matter how strongly we feel about any issue or cause, there are peaceful ways to express our views,” Leone said. “We simply cannot capitulate to the use of violence as a means of political discourse.”
At the time, the Vail fires were the most costly act of eco-terrorism in U.S. history, causing $12 million in damage.
Vail’s Two Elk Lodge, along with the Ski Patrol headquarters and three ski-lift buildings, burned to the ground in the middle of the night.
In anonymous e-mails, the Earth Liberation Front claimed responsibility for the fires, citing the planned 600-acre expansion’s impact on the lynx.
Staff writer Alicia Caldwell can be reached at 303-820-1930 or acaldwell@denverpost.com.
