As someone who loves recreating around the Mount St. Helens area, I was appalled to read in “Exploratory mining permit near Mount St. Helens advances” that the Forest Service is allowing drilling in the Green River Valley — even on the side of a live volcano?
This amazing landscape should not be exploited by a foreign mining company. The Green River Valley, right along the border of Mount St. Helens Volcanic Monument, is a fantastic place to enjoy hiking, biking, backpacking, horseback riding, and nearly every other mode of outdoor recreation.
Recognizing this area’s special value for residents and visitors alike, the Forest Service once purchased this land with money from the Land and Water Conservation Fund to promote conservation and recreation on public lands, such as within the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.
The Forest Service should encourage more recreation by keeping these public lands intact and not opening them to drilling.
