The Resilience of Nature
Mount St. Helens Eruption and Recovery
Mount St. Helens
Before the 1980
Eruption
Photo taken from Norway Pass
Eruption
March 27, 1980
The 1980 Eruptive Period Begins
The Mountain Started Splitting
The
Bulge
A 5.1 earthquake starts the avalanche
Block two
Block one
The Blast Begins Upward and Outward!
The Blast Spreads Northward
Ash Is Pushed Eastward Toward Yakima
Crystals in Volcanic Rock
Minerals form into large crystals in volcanic
rock that cools slowly. Minerals do not form
crystals in volcanic rock that cools quickly.
cools slowly
Granite
cools quickly
<
Dacite
(Mount St. Helens 1980)

Obsidian
Before
Spirit Lake
viewed from
Norway Pass
After
Lake bottom
elevated 180 ft.
Spirit Lake
Mount St. Helens Eruption Damage
How big was it?
Who Owned It?
Acres
Weyerhaeuser
68,000
Forest Service
64,000
State
12,000
Plum Creek Timber
5,000
Others
1,000
_______________
Total
150,000
The Lateral Blast
Damage to Weyerhaeuser lands
Damaged Logging Equipment
Damaged Logging Equipment
Logging Tower and Loader
Tower
Boom of
shovel
Log Loader
Fire Truck
Zone of Complete Destruction
Remains of
Old Growth
Forest
Blow-Down Zone
Standing Dead Zone
The Landslide
and
mudflow
Avalanche Debris Flow
The slide blocks
Major Creeks
Creating 2 New
Lakes!
Hummock
New Pools and Hummocks
12 Road Shop
Weyerhaeuser’s 12 Road Logging Camp
Crew Bus from Camp Baker
Weyerhaeuser Bridge
Seedling Cold Storage
Camp Baker
Weyerhaeuser’s Camp Baker
Camp Baker Equipment
19 Mile
State Highway Bridge
Weyerhaeuser’s Campground
State Bridge Crossing the Toutle
Lower Toutle River
Mud Flow Leaves it’s Mark
Interstate 5 Bridge
The mudflow Enters the Cowlitz River
Safety
•
•
•
•
•
USGS Hot line
Contingency Plan
Flood Watch
OSHA study
PPE - Personal Protection
Equipment
• Evacuation routes
• Emergency food supplies
• Road watering
Safety Starts with a Plan
24 hour Communications were critical!
Safety Equipment - PPE
Monitoring for Effects of Ash
Monitoring the Toutle River was crucial!
River watchman at
their station 24
hours a day
Setting up river monitors
Watering Roads
to Control Ash
Salvage
Logging
• 1980 - 1982
• 20,500 ACRES / 8,300 HECTARES
• 850 MILLION BOARD FEET/
4.8 MILLION CUBIC METERS
• 1,000 PEOPLE
Dead Trees are Food for Insects
First Phase of River Salvage
Logs and Trees Pulled from River
Logs being
Loaded
Salvage Operation
1981
Salvage of Standing Dead in the Blast Zone
Ash Boils
Up as the
Tree Hits
the Ground
600 Truck Loads Per Day
Reforestation
1981 - 1987
• HAND-PLANTED
45,500 ACRES or
15,400 HECTARES
• 18,400,000 TREES
DOUGLAS-FIR
NOBLE FIR
COTTONWOOD (RIPARIAN AREAS)
LODGEPOLE PINE
18,400,000 Seedlings were Planted
One
By
One
11 million Douglas-fir
7 million noble fir
Improved Seed from Our Seed Orchard
Weyerhaeuser seedlings
Seedlings Grown in Our Nursery
Seedlings are Lifted,
Bagged and Trucked
to the Woods.
Planters Loading Up in the Morning
Noble-fir
seedling
Trench dug to
allow eroding
ash to pass
June 1980
Minors Creek Monument Boundary
National
Volcanic
Monument
Douglas-fir
14 years old
Weyerhaeuser
Minors Creek Monument Boundary
Shultz Creek Damage June 1980
Shultz Creek After Reforestation July 2002
Green River Reforestation Before
Green River Reforestation After
July 2002
1980 Damage -10 miles North of Mountain (1)
The Area was Cut and Burned (2)
Planted in 1983 (3)
By 2002 the trees were well on their way (4)
Salvage and Regeneration on 3120 Road (1)
Regeneration on 3120 Road (2)
Weyerhaeuser
Planted 1983
National
Volcanic
Monument
The West Boundary between Weyerhaeuser
and the National Volcanic Monument
Minors Creek Monument
Boundary
boundary
Planted 1983
“Recovery”
The Planted Forest Today
SOME TREES 100-110’
Diameters 15 to 22”
• E:\Untitled-1.tif
First Commercial Thinning 2005
Delimbing
Forwarder
Fertilizing 36,000 acres
Renewal
Weyerhaeuser’s Forest Learning Center
at Mount St. Helens
THANK YOU
Important
Research/Study Areas
• ASH COMOSITION/EROSION
• 130+ SPECIES OF ANIMALS
• COHO SALMON
• ELK
• PLANTS
• APPROXIMATELY 200 TOTAL STUDIES
A Bracken Fern Pushes Through the Ash
Natural Vegetation Study June 1980
Natural Vegetation after One Year
Studying Erosion
V-blade plow
How can we move some of the ash?
Regeneration Studies
Migration of Roosevelt Elk into the Blast Zone
Elk Herd on Mudflow
Mountain blue bird
Bird Survey
Amphibian Studies
Noble fir plant on Weyerhaeuser land
The Old Dome Inside the Crater of
Mount St. Helens
New Dome behind old dome
Forest Learning Center
At Mount St. Helens
www.mountsthelens.weyerhaeuser.com
• .
Portable Testing Equipment
Equipment
Attached to
Worker
Health Testing During Salvage Logging