Natural re-vegetation was visible within a month of the eruption. The bracken fern, sprouting from surviving underground root systems, pushed its way relentlessly through 6 inches of coarse ash and triumphantly broke through to the sun. Fish and wildlife returned quickly. Thousands of Rocky Mountain and Roosevelt elk now roam the plains created by the mudflow. Without the forests shading the mountain's flanks, grass grows abundantly.
Food is plentiful, yet predators are few.
Shrub-like cottonwood, red alder, and willow saplings cling to the hillsides. Wildflowers of red fireweed and blue lupine thrive. Cleansed by destruction, nature began again. Mount St. Helens is a story of resilience and rejuvenation and a chronicle of hope. I wrote of the creative transformation taking place in the world and in our organizations.