Mount Saint Helens | Location, Eruption, & Facts | Britannica

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National monument designation

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In 1982, 172 square miles (445 square km) of land surrounding the volcano was designated Mount Saint Helens National Volcanic Monument, administered by the U.S. Forest Service as part of Gifford Pinchot National Forest. The monument provides a unique opportunity for scientific study of the dynamics of an active composite volcano and for research on how ecosystems respond to cataclysmic disturbances. The monument also presents many recreational and educational opportunities. Visitors can view the crater, lava dome, pumice plain, and effects of the landslide from Johnston Ridge Observatory on the monument’s west side, less than 5 miles (8 km) from the volcano. The west side also provides opportunities to observe animals and plants that have recolonized the blast zone and lakes that have formed as a result of the eruption. The edge of the blast zone, marked by standing dead trees, lies in the eastern part of the monument where old-growth forests, undamaged by the blast, still stand. On the south side are lava formations of various ages, including the longest continuous lava tube in the 48 conterminous U.S. states, which formed during an eruption about 2,000 years ago. Mount Rainier National Park is to the northeast.

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