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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 18, 1981)
Emerald Vol. 82, No. 156 f Eugene, Oregon 97403 Monday, May 18, 1981 Towns relive disaster, look to future regrowth LONGVIEW, Wash. (AP) - With papier mache volcanoes, parades and prayers for the dead, residents of southwest Washing ton commemorated the first anniversary of Mt. St. Helens’ destructive eruption. Several hundred people flocked Saturday to Toutle, Silver Lake and other small towns that were blasted into the limelight when the mountain blew its top last May 18. Volcano Daze in Toutle included a 20-minute parade along a state highway featuring three papier-mache volcanoes, as well as marching bands and clowns. "I found it in the ash,” one of the floats heralded. Dedication of a new radio emergency action center in Toutle kicked off the day’s activity, and about 75 people attended a memorial service for the 60 people believed killed by the eruption. “I really like the theme that we have out here in Toutle — the regrowth of God’s country. We’re looking to the future," said Rev. Wendell Small, pastor of Toutle Com munity Church Events examine eruption effects The Mt. St. Helens symposium con tinues today with discussion groups, speakers, films and exhibits, including a keynote address by Rep. Jim Weaver, D-Ore. The symposium, titled “The Sleeping Mountain Awakes," sponsored by the University Outdoor Program, is to commemorate the May 18, 1980, erup tion and to inform the public on the scientific, political and social effects of the volcano. Speaking today at 7:30 p.m. in the EMU Ballroom, Weaver will discuss timber policy and will participate in a panel discussion on Mt. St. Helens land management options. All symposium events today and Tuesday are free and open to the public. The schedule: noon-1 p.m. — A book-signing party with Stephen Harris, author of "Fire and Ice,” University Bookstore. A Mt. St. Helens celebration with live music and performers will take place in the EMU Courtyard until 2 p.m. 1-3 p.m. — Mt. St. Helens Film Festival, EMU Dad's Room. 2- 2:45 p.m. — Discussion on the effects of Mt. St. Helens eruptions on the ecology of nearby plant communi ties, EMU 108, the effects of the erup tions on Washington lakes, EMU 111, and plate tectonics and the Cascade volcanoes, EMU 112. 3- 3:45 p.m. — U S. Forest Service Mt. St. Helens land management plan will be presented in EMU 112. The effects of the eruption on the timber industry and private land owners will be dis cussed in EMU 113. The plant and lake discussions will be repeated in EMU 108 and 111. 4-4:45 p.m. — Mt. St. Helens National Monument proposal will be presented in EMU 108. Sessions on the Forest Service plan and the timber industry will be repeated in EMU 112 and 113. 7:30 p.m. — Congressman Jim Weaver will speak about the issues confronting timber policy today, EMU Ballroom. 8:45 p.m. — Panel discussion on Mt. St. Helens land management options, EMU Ballroom. aacKpacKers recount Mr. St Helen s awe By HARRY ESTEVE Of the Emerald Two backpackers who were within 13 miles of the May 18, 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens brought the awe and terror of the event to the University Sunday night. Accompanied by a series of dramatic slides taken during and following the explosion, Mike and Lu Moore recounted their two-day ordeal on the Green River north of the volcano, an area that barely escaped total devasta tion. The Moores’ presentation in the EMU opened the three-day "The Sleeping Mountain Awakes" symposium, which commemorates the anniversary of the historic eruption "These slides are unique because they show the lateral blast from inside the gun barrel, so to speak," Mike Moore told the almost 150 people in the audience. His slides of the gigantic ash plume looming over the treetops next to their campsite, and the ones taken during their subsequent escape, drew gasps from the crowd. The Moores said the morning of the eruption began like any morning in the wilderness, except that Mike Moore was experimenting with some new camera equipment instead of helping cook breakfast. He admitted that he wouldn’t have been able to get the photographs on any other day. He was the first to feel the ground shake. Moments later, his wife looked up and saw the ash plume unfurling above the treetops. “Her first reaction was ‘Oh shucks, we missed it.’ ” However, after watching through his viewfinder the “large billowing cloud, billowing towards us much faster than billowing up,” Mike Moore said they both became "a little apprehensive.” The Moores’ apprehension was probably less for themselves than for their two children Thinking it was go ing to be a short and easy weekend trip, they had brought along 3-year-old BonnieLu and Terra, their three month-old infant. ”1 kept taking pictures until I ran out of nerve,” Mike Moore said. The family then retreated to an abandoned and dilapidated hunting lodge as the plume passed directly over them and a heavy ash fallout began "It wasn’t a mother’s choice to save her kids in,” Lu Moore said of the shack, "but it beat a nylon tent.” The Moores were eventually spotted by an Army rescue helicopter as they were attempting to work their way out of the debris-strewn and ash-covered wilderness. The rescue came only after they had spent an entire day and night struggling over trees blown over by the blast and lying awake for hours wondering whether they would make it out. Before their slide presentation, the Moores voiced their support of a proposal to make the Mt St. Helens area a national monument. “People have a right to go up and see what actually happened up there,” Mike Moore said “Decisions that should be made in the political arena are being made by a bulldozer," he said of plans by timber companies to log and commercially reforest the area. When asked of the potential dangers of opening up an area around an active volcano to thousands of tourists, he said “I don’t feel the government has any justification protecting people from their own actions."
