dead deer mouse, apparently poisoned 
by the tannin-blackened water in Cas- 
tle Lake, which formed when the May 
eruption dammed Castle Creek. 
As I write, the winter rains cleanse 
the forest of ash, and snow falls on 
the mountain slopes, restoring to 
Mount St. Helens a pristine appear- 
ance. The volcano will undoubtedly 
rumble for several years, however, and 
minor damage is likely to continue, 
particularly on the north slope. In such 
areas, the biological recovery clock 
may restart several times, providing 
future opportunities to observe several 
stages of succession simultaneously. 
Recovery on the mountain will go 
on for many years. At first, physical 
changes will predominate: wind will 
remove the dust, mud will erode, gla- 
ciers may recover somewhat. Many 
lakes and streams should recover 
quickly, although the persistence of 
heavy sediment loads will probably 
retard the recovery of fish. In the 
higher forests, snow-protected small 
trees will form the next generation 
and provide a forested look to much 
of the blowdown area within fifteen 
to twenty-five years. Above timber- 
line, as surviving vegetation emerges 
from beneath mudflows and ash, only 
subtle differences from preeruption 
conditions will be evident. Where 
high-elevation vegetation was de- 
stroyed, however, revegetation will be 
slow and dependent on long-distance 
dispersal. 
Foresters, ecologists, soil scientists, 
limnologists, entomologists, and other 
biologists have coordinated their stud- 
ies of the biological aftermath of the 
1980 Mount St. Helens eruptions. In 
our efforts to understand how ecosys- 
tems recover from such fundamental 
disturbances, we build on the work 
of pioneers. What we learn may, in 
turn, help us develop judicious ways 
to cope with future natural catastro- 
phes. No one wishes to experience fur- 
ther Cascade eruptions, but should 
they happen, we will be better pre- 
pared to encourage rapid and effective 
ecosystem recovery techniques. □ 
With the afternoon sun obscured 
behind a ridge, fireweed blossoms 
scatter their luminous message of 
life among the stumps of an earlier 
clear-cut operation four miles west 
of the peak of Mount St. Helens. 
Ralph Perry 
46 
