After The Blast: The Ecological Recovery of Mount St. Helens (Eric Wagner, 2020)

The view towards Mount St. Helens from the lookout of the U.S. Forest Service’s Johnston Ridge Observatory is revelatory.  The ridge, located 10 kilometres from the volcano, lay directly in the path of the blast of superheated water and gas, filled with shards of heat-shattered rock from the volcano’s magma chamber, that burst laterally from the mountain when Mount St. Helens erupted on May 18, 1980.  The “blast clouds shattered the trees closest to the vent into fragments or ripped them from the ground and hurled them through the air. Farther away, it toppled trees over like cut grass”.  The eruption resulted in the death of 57 people, the loss of thousands of animals, and the almost immediate transformation of the landscape over more than 600 square kilometres.  Standing on that ridge, one struggles to fathom the force, speed, and totality of that transformation. 

Eric Wagner begins his book with vivid descriptions of the eruption’s devastation, such as the one cited above, largely based on US Geological Survey Professional Paper 1250, published in May 1981, containing geologists’ first efforts to make sense of the eruption events and their aftermath.  He relates how the Forest Service’s Northwest Research Station and the National Science Foundation, led by now well-known senior scientists such as Jerry Franklin and Jim Swanson, were ready, recognizing the opportunity to study the processes involved in ecological recovery of terrestrial and aquatic habitats and communities. To that end, teams were assembled from a broad range of scientific disciplines to devise and conduct observations and experiments in real-time.  Wagner’s book describes the field studies carried out by individuals and teams in extremely challenging, uncertain conditions beginning within two weeks of the eruption and spanning more than three decades.  For me, it was a page turner.  Wagner is thorough in his approach to reporting each aspect of the scientific work.  He also has a very down-to- earth way of relating to and capturing the spirit and personalities of the individuals who he spends time with out in the field.   His own curiosity and wonder shine through.  This book really makes one appreciate the resiliency of the natural world.  Highly recommended.

Reviewed by Pat Miller