Violence Escalates in the Name of Environmentalism

A communiqu sent to local news agencies from Earth Liberation Front said the fires were set "on behalf of the lynx." The communiqu continued: "Putting profits ahead of Colorado's wildlife will not be tolerated.... We will be back if this greedy corporation continues to trespass into wild and unroaded areas. For your safety and convenience, we strongly advise skiers to choose other destinations until Vail cancels its inexcusable plans for expansion."

Saturday, Vail Resorts spokesman Paul Witt said the company is moving forward with expansion plans. Ski season is expected to start as planned.

Incidents of "monkey-wrenching," or ecosabotage, seem to have been concentrated in the West and Pacific Northwest.

But why Vail? Why now? And what does it mean for the rest of the country?

SINCE Vail Resorts became a publicly traded company almost two years ago, some local citizens and officials believe the company has become more aggressive in its pursuit of profits, limiting competition, and building a new entertainment complex that takes patrons away from existing businesses.

"There is a lot of support within the community for the company, and vice-versa," counters Vail Resorts spokesman Witt. But he added, "Everybody's in a competitive environment here, and that's the nature of business."

Vail may also symbolize frustration with the courtroom and city hall. Mr. Rosebraugh, with the Liberation Collective, says environmentalists may feel they poured money down the drain in lawsuits that failed to prevent the Vail ski expansion. Some activists, says Rosebraugh, "are going to pick up where the law left off to support the environment."

Baltimore sociologist Howard Ehrlich says it is not uncommon for "politicized groups" to resort to violence after feeling they have exhausted all other remedies. And he adds, "The levels of political alienation in this country are probably higher than they've ever been. People just don't see government as being responsive."

USC Professor Dekmejian notes that a rise in violent tactics from environmental groups, which generally hail from the left of the political spectrum, seems to have mirrored a rise in violent tactics from right-leaning groups such as militias. Dekmejian says that such perpetrators might be antisocial to the point of having personality disorders, and feel alienated in a globalized society that has lost the comparatively simple communist/noncommunist distinction of the cold war.

It's possible to see how such individuals would strike at a glittering ski resort.

"The massive Vail complex, lit at night,... is a symbol of affluence and power," Dekmejian says.

For at least 10 years, the Eugene, Ore.-based Earth First Journal has published a feature called Earth Night News, which notes acts that some would term ecosabotage, says Lacey Phillabaum, one of four collective editors. Ms. Phillabaum says her publication does not condemn or endorse such acts. But she speculates that perpetrators may feel a new sense of urgency as development encroaches on pristine areas that are becoming more and more scarce.

"As long as species can go extinct without anyone speaking up, as long as Earth Firsters can be killed in the woods," says Phillabaum, referring to David Chain, killed by a falling tree in northern California while protesting the logging of ancient redwoods, "there are going to be individuals so enraged by that, they're going to take action in their own hands."

Yet Phillabaum was not prepared to say that the Vail incident was a harbinger of more high-profile tactics.

"I don't think I could speak to any trend," she says.

Her caution is mirrored by Milton Kleg, a professor of sociology at the University of Colorado, Denver, and a terrorism expert.

"One act in itself doesn't indicate, necessarily, an escalation," he says. And Kleg says the ultimate escalation has yet to occur. "To me, when they start killing people, that would be a real escalation."

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