Could Mount St. Helens turn into national park?

The idea of turning Mount St. Helens into Washington's fourth national park isn't dead yet.

U.S. Rep. Brian Baird, who remains noncommittal about the idea, recently agreed with Democratic U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell to form an advisory committee to look into it. Because the 110,000-acre Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument is within Baird's congressional district, his acquiescence is a political necessity if it were to be turned into a national park.

"It's worth exploring what the pros and cons would be," Baird, a Democrat, said Monday.

On a preliminary ledger sheet, opponents worry the biggest "con" would be a curtailment of access to hunters, fishermen and snowmobilers with the loss of U.S. Forest Service oversight. The biggest "pro" would be money.

Cowlitz County officials are watching the issue closely, mainly because primary access to the volcano cuts through the county on state Highway 504.

County commissioners initially favored a National Park Service takeover of the monument, in light of the cash-strapped Forest Service's recent decision to permanently close the Coldwater Ridge Visitor Center after 14 years. Commissioners withdrew that support, however, after hearing from recreational groups concerned about access.

Mark Plotkin, the county's tourism director, said he has subsequently looked into the issue further and found a revealing item while combing through the National Park Service's budget.

He decided to compare the Forest Service's roughly $500,000 annual budget for recreation on Mount St. Helens with a comparable location. He picked California's Lassen Volcanic National Park, which is similar in visitation and acreage to Mount St. Helens, but has a budget that's nine times the size of Mount St. Helens' — $4.5 million.

"Something's way wrong," Plotkin said, "and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that."

Cowlitz County Commissioner Axel Swanson endorsed the idea of an advisory committee with representatives of Cowlitz, Clark, Lewis and Skamania counties. He said the county might support a Park Service takeover, but only if the enabling legislation allowed continued access by sportsmen's groups.

"There are a wide variety of national parks," Swanson said. "The differences are in the enabling legislation."

National park status for the volcano appeared to dim earlier this year, after county commissioners and Baird heard from constituents concerned the National Park Service would restrict public access.

But the prospect of a steady source of funding appears to be breathing new life into the idea.

National parks receive a line item allocation of funding in the federal budget each year. By contrast, Mount St. Helens receives its share of recreation money from the Forest Service only after it filters through three distinct layers of administrative overhead, from national headquarters, through the regional office in Portland, and, finally, through the Gifford Pinchot forest headquarters in Vancouver. At each level, the monument must compete with other recreation programs operated by the Forest Service.

Even so, Forest Service officials maintain their agency remains best-positioned to manage the monument as well as the various national forest campsites, trails and roads surrounding it.