Someone had set Vail Mountain, Colo., ablaze. Seven fires spread along a mile-long ridge overlooking the ski village. And the responsiblity behind the act was claimed by the Earth Liberation Front. A fax purporting to be from the ELF said the group had sponsored what was probably history's costliest ecoterrorist strike "on behalf of lynx," a skike-eared wildcat all but gone from the state. The fax further stated that "putting profits ahead of Colorado's wildlife will not be toletrated. This action is just a warning."