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 cools quickly Granite < Dacite Obsidian (Mount St. Helens 1980)
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 Weyerhaeuser Douglas-fir 14 years old 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
Bird Survey Mountain blue bird
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