Case Study: Mount St Helens

Reasons for growth in Volcanic Tourism industry:

• Improvements in air travel made places like Hawaii more accessible
• Global media coverage has increased public awareness of these events
• World Heritage sites raise profile of places like Giant's causeway

Mt St Helens:

• Strato volcano in Cascade mountain range
• Before 1980 it attracted people to hunt, ski and hike
• Spirit Lake at its base was popular area for fishing, boating and swimming
• Forests were commercially logged
• 1980 people flocked to see eruption
• Vechicles blocked road to spirit lake
• Souvenir trade: ash in glass vials, tshirts, mugs
• Forestry service sought safe spots where people could view eruption
• Mobile trailers set up to show film footage
• More violent than predicted
• Claimed 57 lives

Recovery:

Economic:

• Spirit Lake Memorial Highway
• Large bridges
• Five visitor centres

Social:

• Mt St Helens Volcanic Monument established

Environmental:

• Several interpretative trails
• sediment retention structure
• Pumice plain receeded
• Outlets cut to release water from lakes created when avalanches dammed streams to decrease flood risk
• Tunnel constructed at Spirit Lake to maintain safe water level

Tourism Issues:

Conservation: 

• Only one road leads to site

• pressure on observatory
• other attractions help
• Erosion - hardened park area with 420 vehicle capacity
• Destruction by vistors
• trampling can damage pioneer speicies
• $100 fine for stepping on or picking wildflowers