Mount St. Helens fans seek national park status for peak

CASTLE ROCK, Wash. — Thirty years after the eruption of Mount St. Helens leveled a forest and rained volcanic ash for miles around, the devastated mountain remains an important center for volcano research and science.

But some critics of the way Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument is managed argue that it could be much more, perhaps even a national park on par with some of the most grandeur — Yosemite, Rainier, Grand Canyon.

"It's got unique and iconic resources and landscape that make it equal to (those parks)," said Sean Smith, northwest regional director for the National Parks Conservation Association.

Smith, who got to know the volcano's many moods as a ranger in the 1990s, said making St. Helens a national park would raise its profile, draw more visitors and provide a steady dedicated stream of money.

Since its catastrophic eruption on May 18, 1980, the picturesque mountain with its telltale open horseshoe-shaped crater has captivated scientists and visitors. Within minutes of a 5.1 earthquake that morning, the volcano's north flank collapsed, triggering the largest landslide ever recorded. The blast killed 57 people, flattened 230 square miles of forests and blew 1,300 feet off the peak.

In 1982, Congress set aside 110,000 acres for the monument and put it in the hands of the U.S. Forest Service to be managed as part of the larger Gifford Pinchot National Forest in southwest Washington.

Mark Plotkin, tourism director for Cowlitz County, said the past several years haven't been the brightest for the monument, which has seen limited resources, reduced services, the permanent closure of the Coldwater Ridge Visitors Center and the state takeover of another.

"Right now, we're doing the minimum necessary to keep the doors open," said Plotkin, who favors national park status.

Advocates for park status cite a University of Washington report that found St. Helens got about $3.26 per acre in federal dollars from the Forest Service in 2007, while other monuments within the National Park Service got three to six times more money on a per-acre basis.

A congressional committee spent over a year exploring, in part, whether St. Helens should become the state's fourth national park.

Last month, it recommended significant improvements for the monument, including better road connections, overnight lodging, recreational access for a wide variety of visitors.