Oregon Public Broadcasting

A Congressional advisory committee is recommending that Mount St. Helens remain under Forest Service control and not be elevated to a national park.

But the panel does want to see more amenities and expansion of the volcanic monument. Correspondent Tom Banse reports.

Environmental groups and tourism promoters say Mount St. Helens would attract more visitors, money, and prestige if it were a national park. But the majority of a 14-member Congressional advisory panel recommends the U.S. Forest Service remain in charge.

In its final report, the committee urges the government to broaden recreational opportunities at the slumbering volcano.

Jeanne Bennett directs of the non-profit Mount St. Helens Institute. She applauds a recommendation to add more camping and a destination resort in the national volcanic monument.

Jeanne Bennett: “People come up here, but they don’t know what to do. One of the reasons they don’t know what to do is there is not enough food and there’s not lodging. So they can’t stay for very long, because their needs cannot be cared for.”

The Mount St. Helens advisory committee’s recommendations will now be sent to Congress. The work of the last 15 months is not binding.