Ecoterrorism Case Expands

One of the six people arrested in a string of ecoterrorism attacks in the Pacific Northwest is also a prime suspect in five other cases, including the 1998 firebombing of a ski resort at Vail, Colo., that caused $12 million in damage, a federal prosecutor said Tuesday.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Kirk Engdahl made the allegation against Chelsea Dawn Gerlach of Portland during a bail hearing in U.S. District Court.

Several fires were set at the Vail ski resort before dawn Oct. 19, 1998, in one of the nation’s costliest ecoterrorism incidents.

Four buildings, including the Two Elk Lodge, ski patrol headquarters, and four lifts at the top of the mountain, were damaged or destroyed. A new lodge was built on the site and opened in 2000.

“Everyone here in this community is interested in seeing some closure to the Vail fire,” said Kim Andree, spokeswoman for the Eagle County Sheriff’s Department. “I think it was very difficult for this community to overcome.”

Gerlach, 28, has been indicted on charges that she helped two others topple a power line near Bend on Dec. 30, 1999.

Prosecutors also have filed a criminal complaint against her in the May 9, 1999, firebombing of the Childers Meat Co. in Eugene. Engdahl said he would present evidence to a grand jury today seeking indictments against Gerlach in the meatpacking fire and a 2001 firebombing at a tree farm in Clatskanie.

She was one of six people arrested in five states last week on indictments alleging that they took part in a string of arson attacks and other crimes in Oregon and Washington state, for which the Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front took responsibility. A seventh person remains at large, Engdahl said.

Judge Thomas Coffin ordered Gerlach held without bail, pending today’s session.