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REVIEWS
IN THE BLAST ZONE: CATASTROPHE AND RENEWAL ON MOUNT ST. HELENS
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edited by Charles Goodrich, Kathleen Dean Moore, and Frederick J. Swanson
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| Oregon State University Press, Corvallis, 2008. Illustrations, maps, bibliography. 128 pages. $15.95 paper. |
| The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens made international headlines for its violence, its stark transformation of a forest landscape, and its direct impact on human life. A historic event such as this is rare in a human lifetime — rare even among generations — and may profoundly impact our thinking about natural processes and the landscape in which we live. The volcano's blast zone has been a vast natural laboratory for scientists studying the workings of an ecosystem seemingly reset to "zero;" these studies have led to paradigm-busting leaps in scientific understanding. Yet what can we learn of the human dimension — the psychological, social, and philosophical relationships between people and landscapes experiencing violent natural disturbances? This is the question explored by the collected essays of In the Blast Zone. |
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The book emerged from a 2005 camping trip on the flanks of Mount St. Helens, coordinated by Oregon State University's Spring Creek Project for Ideas, Nature, and the Written Word. The trip brought together a diverse collection of scientists, philosophers, poets, natural historians, and novelists to explore the blast zone and reflect on their observations of, and reactions to, the dramatically changed and recovering landscape. The participants, which included over twenty prominent writers and scientists, then composed brief essays or poems now collected in the book. |
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A key theme is exploring the meaning behind words such as disaster, recovery, catastrophe, renewal, and destruction. Questions raised by the authors include: What significance do such terms carry in an ever-changing landscape? In an ecosystem that not only responds to, but in many ways thrives upon, violent change? Are these terms purely human constructs, and if so, what does this tell us about ourselves? Many different responses to these questions are offered in the book. The authors' observations of the blast zone, for example, show that natural ecosystems are surprisingly resilient to what we consider to be cataclysm and that the post-eruption ecosystem is equally, or even more, diverse and productive as the forest it supplanted. Kathleen Dean Moore reflects, "Here on the volcano, I no longer understand the difference between destruction and creation" (p. 25). |
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The essays offer impressive depth given their brevity. They go beyond the relatively simple — but powerful — story of natural resilience, exploring the volcano's effect on notions of human attachment to landscape, perceptions of life and death, how we relate to the ecosystems on which we depend, and ultimately our place in the universe. The descriptive writings reflect the conflicting thoughts one must disentangle when experiencing the blast zone, from "returning to a bombed-out house," to "a landscape of great complexity and richness ... with extraordinary levels of biological diversity" (Christine Colasurdo, p. 78; Jerry Franklin p. 67). For this reason, I was compelled to put the book down after each chapter to allow myself time to absorb the ideas contained within. Even though the smooth prose lends to a fast read, one would do well to read this book in pieces. |
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It should be noted that this is not a book providing a detailed blow-by-blow account of the eruption itself, save for a short primer in the introduction. Readers seeking information on, for example, the build-up to the eruption, the evacuations, eruption metrics, mudflows, floods, or escape stories will need to look to additional sources. |
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In the Blast Zone stands as an important piece interpreting the historical, ecological, and human significance of the Mount St. Helens eruption. The diversity of perspectives and writing styles it contains, combined with the clarity and insight lent by a very talented collection of authors, makes it a highly accessible read. It seems essential reading for those interested in Pacific Northwest history, forest ecology, philosophy of nature, and also for volcanophiles everywhere. |
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| Daniel C. Donato
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| Oregon State University |
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