During a recent visit to Ryan Lake, inside the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, Jessica Walz, left, and Bob Digenthal, both of the Gifford Pinchot Task Force, study a hillside opposite where Ascot Mining plans to do more exploratory drilling on a 217-acre mining claim. The conservation group has filed a lawsuit to require the Forest Service to study the potential environmental impacts of the mine.

The Green River flows through a broad valley northwest of Mount St. Helens, a popular backcountry area just 12 miles from the volcano. A proposed copper mine could someday be developed on the hillside at upper right.

A locked gate protects the area where the Ascot Mining Company wants to do more exploratory drilling above the Green River and on the border of the Mt. St Helens National Volcanic Monument near Randall, Wa., Tuesday October 18, 2011.

Jessica Walz, conservation director. right, with Bob Digenthaler,executive director, both from the Gifford Pinchot Task Force, speaks to a group of reporters as she stands on one of a network of roads to exploratory drilling sites in the area where the Ascot Mining Company wants to do more exploratory drilling above the Green River and on the border of the Mt. St Helens National Volcanic Monument near Randall, Wa., Tuesday October 18, 2011.

Jessica Walz, conservation director with the Gifford Pinchot Task Force, talks about recreational usage as she points to the area where the Ascot Mining Company wants to do more exploratory drilling above the Green River and on the border of the Mt. St Helens National Volcanic Monument near Randall, Wa., Tuesday October 18, 2011.

Jessica Walz, conservation director. right, with Bob Digenthaler,executive director, both from the Gifford Pinchot Task Force, speaks to a group of reporters as she stands on one of a network of roads to exploratory drilling sites in the area where the Ascot Mining Company wants to do more exploratory drilling above the Green River and on the border of the Mt. St Helens National Volcanic Monument near Randall, Wa., Tuesday October 18, 2011.

A photo taken across Ryan Lake and past blowdown left to preserve the lake basin to the hillside area where the Ascot Mining Company wants to do more exploratory drilling above the Green River and on the border of the Mt. St Helens National Volcanic Monument near Randall, Wa., Tuesday October 18, 2011.

Part of a network of roads, with berms and logs to prevent easy access to exploratory drilling sites in the area where the Ascot Mining Company wants to do more exploratory drilling above the Green River and on the border of the Mt. St Helens National Volcanic Monument near Randall on Oct. 18, 2011.

Jessica Walz, conservation director with the Gifford Pinchot Task Force, speaks to a group of reporters as she stands on one of a network of roads to exploratory drilling sites in the area where the Ascot Mining Company wants to do more exploratory drilling above the Green River and on the border of the Mt. St Helens National Volcanic Monument near Randle on Oct. 18, 2011.

One of a network of roads to exploratory drilling sites in the area where the Ascot Mining Company wants to do more exploratory drilling above the Green River and on the border of the Mt. St Helens National Volcanic Monument near Randall, Wa., Tuesday October 18, 2011.