[greg]

Not sure I'm liking the sound of this. Concession Opportunities Offered at the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument VANCOUVER, WA ––Concessionaires are being sought by the Gifford Pinchot National Forest to provide a broad range of visitor services at sites located throughout the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument. Opportunities are being offered in four areas: Sites along State Route 504 including Johnston Ridge Observatory, Coldwater Ridge Visitor Center; sites along Forest Roads 99, 26, and 25 such as the Cascade Peaks Concession site, Windy Ridge Interpretive site, Bear Meadow area; sites along Forest Roads 83 and 81 including Ape Cave, Marble Mountain Sno-Park; and the Pine Creek Work Center compound. Services offered include restaurant operation, retail gift sales, educational book sales, mobile food and sundries vending, recreational equipment rentals, outfitter guide services, theater operation, development and operation of concessionaire-owned and operated rustic lodging facilities, and conversion of the Pine Creek Work Center facility to public recreational uses such as an organizational camp or RV campground. A complete description of potential opportunities is found in A Prospectus for the Delivery of Visitor Services, Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, which is available for download at http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/purchasing/solicitations/proposals.shtml or by contacting Steve Nelson at the Forest Headquarters in Vancouver at (360) 891-5175 or by e-mail at smnelson@fs.fed.us. The term of the permit will be five years, with longer terms possible depending on the nature of the proposed service and level of investment. A pre-application informational meeting for prospective applicants is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Thursday November 3, 2005 at the Gifford Pinchot National Forest Headquarters, 10600 NW 51st Circle, Vancouver, WA. The purpose of the meeting is to answer questions about the prospectus and the facilities and opportunities included in the Volcanic Monument recreation complexes. The deadline for receipt of applications is 4 p.m. on Friday January 27, 2006. * * *

[Alan Bauer]

greg--blah, I'm not fond of that idea either the more I stewed over it for a day. It's bad enough that Cougar, WA exists and has nothing to offer but Coke and corn-nuts at a gas station, but why dump places up in the heart of that south side of the mountain? Or those north side visitor centers? I certainly don't feel people need something along FS 25 to help them get from point A to B..... Keep it remote and keep the tow truck drivers busy with a good job

[Eric]

Whatever happened with the scheme to connect 504 to the East side FS roads that the locals were pushing?

[greg]

There's another thread here titled "Forest Service selling our heritage." That's what this feels like to me. On the one hand, the Forest Service won't let hikers go to some special places in the blast zone, such as St. Helens and Spirit lakes and much of the blast zone -- for research purposes now 25 years later -- and on the other hand they're trying to turn frontcountry areas into volcano Disneyland. As for pushing the road through, I think it's a pipe dream of local lawmakers that is dead in the water since it faces mega opposition and doesn't stand a chance of getting funded.

[Alan Bauer]

Exactly how I feel too, greg....this summer I had the wonderful pleasure as I stood both at the southern terminus and northern terminus of the Truman Trail...and you can't believe how dumb I felt standing there looking at pink/yellow little pieces of tape "closing off" the trail to protect me from all of the terrible things that could happen to me. Of course, both times I saw VAN LOADS of WSU research students, none over age 22, waltzing in to this dangerous territory. I guess I could have too if I just hiked with a hard hat? Sigh... Oh, and both times I watched helecopters land 2-3 times in there as well. But at least the FS can feel happy about people being able to have heated toilets instead of world class outhouses, and they can end their suffering from having to settle for Gas Station Blend coffee on the route to the mountain area. I can sleep better knowing that, by golly--no more Shell Station Blend in Packwood on the way south!!

[mgd]

Maybe nwhikers should bid on the contract.

[lookout bob]

this IS another fine example of the FS selling our heritage.....they certainly could not afford to do anything of the sort themselves...no $ for investment.......so farm it out to some concessionaire who can sell cheesy ornaments of St Helens glass and brickabrac and geegaws to car tourists......greasy cheeseburgers for $8 ( fries extra....) and whatever else they can pawn off on car tourists ( or is it tourons....?????) I HATE the idea......why can't we just leave it as it is? Sounds like I need to get on the scoping list for Mt St Helens National Monument......

[Don]