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Mount St. Helens Institute no longer dormant Thursday, March 23, 2006 By ERIK ROBINSON, Columbian staff writer Like Mount St. Helens itself, a nonprofit institute bearing the volcano's name is coming out of a long period of dormancy. Now, with the volcano in a continual state of eruption since the fall of 2004, the Mount St. Helens Institute has revived itself with a series of activities beginning this spring.

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The institute, underwritten by the U.S. Forest Service, will offer scientific seminars for the first time since 2002. It also will recruit volunteers willing to improve trails and remove invasive plants, as well as offer opportunities for docent volunteers willing to answer questions from people visiting the 110,000-acre national volcanic monument. Greg de Nevers, scientific study coordinator for the institute, said the U.S. Forest Service is underwriting the institute by paying his salary and that of a volunteer coordinator. The agency also provides space for the institute at Gifford Pinchot National Forest headquarters in Vancouver and monument headquarters in Chelatchie Prairie. "That's a statement and an indication of the Forest Service's commitment to standing up this nonprofit partner," he said. Gifford Pinchot Supervisor Claire Lavendel and Mary Vasse, with the National Forest Foundation in Portland, serve as co-directors of the institute. A five-member board of directors convened for the first time in January, including John Bishop, a Washington State University Vancouver professor who chairs the board; Cliff Ligons, who retired as monument manager in January; Bill Anderson, a Seattle-area businessman; Christine Colasurdo, who authored a book recounting her memories of time spent at her family's cabin before the 1980 eruption; Wendy Marsh, with the Northwest Hospital Foundation in Seattle; and television personality Bill Nye. With the well-documented decline of recreation funding for the national volcanic monument, forest officials are hoping the institute provides a boost in fundraising, maintenance and renovation of exhibits. Six Seminars Planned for Summer The Mount St. Helens Institute is offering six field seminars beginning May 19 on a first-come, first-served basis. Additional information and registration is available online at mshinstitute .org or by calling 360-449-7826. Seminars include the following:

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Columbian.com - Serving Clark County, Washington
. "Old Growth Forest as Seen from the Canopy Crane," May 19. Wind River Canopy Crane. Ken Bible, site director of the canopy crane and a research scientist with the University of Washington, will lead an aerial tour of a Southwest Washington forest similar to the one destroyed by the eruption of May 18, 1980. Cost: $67. . "Buckwheats and Blues," July 2. Windy Ridge. Robert Michael Pyle, a butterfly expert and author, will lead a search for two elusive species of butterflies linked to buckwheat plants east of Mount St. Helens. Cost: $50. . "Geological and Ecological Destruction and Rebirth at Mount St. Helens," July 7-8. Forest Road 99 between Windy Ridge and the Wakepish Sno-Park. Fred Swanson, a geologist and ecosystem scientist with the Pacific Northwest Research Station, will lead a two-day seminar billed as a blend of geological, ecological and creative writing perspectives on the 1980 eruption and its place in the longer sweep of time. Cost: $ 50. . "Photography in the Eye of the Volcano," July 21-22. Overnight base will be tent camp area used by scientists near Windy Ridge. Gary Braasch, a Portland-based professional photographer, will lead a seminar dedicated to seeing Mount St. Helens as it is and as it has been. Cost: $50. . "Biological Reassembly on the Pumice Plain," July 28. Windy Ridge. John Bishop, a biology professor at Washington State University Vancouver, will lead a hike into the landscape most dramatically affected by the 1980 eruption. Cost: $50. . "Geology to the Crater Rim," Aug. 12. Climbers Bivouac. Tom Pierson, a geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Vancouver, will lead a climb up to the south rim of the only actively erupting volcano in the contiguous United States. The climb depends on the Forest Service reopening the climbing route. If conditions prohibit climbing, another geology trip will be substituted. Cost: $65. For more information, visit mshinstitute.org
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