An environmental group has admitted responsibility for setting a major fire that destroyed three buildings and three chairlifts in America's largest ski area.
The Earth Liberation Front, a group that has been linked to other acts of eco-terrorism in the Pacific northwest, sent an email communication to media organisations stating that the fires were an attempt to halt development in the area and protect wildlife.
"Putting profits ahead of Colorado's wildlife will not be tolerated," read the statement. Authorities said they are investigating the credibility of the message, but noted that it used language almost identical to other statements from the group.
On Monday night at about four a.m., seven strategically set fires roared through snowy terrain in Colorado's resort of Vail, set in a picturesque town at 11,000 ft in the Rocky mountains. The fire caused about $12 million in damage.
"I don't think that anything like this has happened in the history of outdoor recreation in America," Mr John Frew, president of a national skiing association, told the New York Times. "They were very strategic in planning and execution. It was not happenstance, not a series of lightning strikes."
Commercial development of forest land has caused major controversy in Vail. Last week a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit by environmentalists who protested against a plan by Vail Resorts to expand into another 885 acres of forest land.
Vail Resorts, which owns hotels, ski areas, stores and restaurants, began expanding since it went public two years ago. It has invested $200 million into improvement of ski areas. It has provided jet service to the area in winter. Residents complain the company is monopolising Vail, pushing out small businesses.
Acts of eco-terrorism have been on the rise in the US. There were six crimes in 1986 and 300 in the last two years, according to Mr Barry Clausen of North American Research, a California company which records such events. About 1,500 crimes, including arson and bombings, have occurred in the last decade.
The most costly crime, until now, was a fire at the University of California at Davis in 1987, which caused $5 million in damage to an animal research facility. A group called the Animal Liberation Front admitted that.
The Earth Liberation Front has since last December taken partial responsibility for setting fires in Washington State, at a corral in Oregon used for wild horses captured by the federal government, and also for "freeing" 310 animals from a Wisconsin fur farm.
Most environmentalists condemned the action. But some, like Ms Theresa Kintz, editor of the Earth First Journal, did not.
"Personally, I don't have a problem with hitting people like Vail Inc in their pockets," she told the New York Times. "I don't have a problem with seeing their facilities burn down. It's a war."