Mount St Helens
Press releases
For Immediate Release - July 08, 2010
Adventure Passport: Successful Debut
Local Businesses Added to the Passport Location List Daily
Kelso, WA- The Cowlitz County Tourism Bureau (CCTB) began distributing the brand new Adventure Passport program last month, a publication made to promote the tagline "It's More Than a Day" by showcasing things to see and do in the Mount St. Helens region. Community support is high and the success of the program is even better than expected, with local businesses asking to be added to the passport location list daily. Since the project began, 24 businesses have been added to the official stamp location list that started with 14 locations.
“The number one comment from businesses is how user-friendly the passport is. Business owners and their employees can answer visitors' questions about the area by handing them a passport, knowing that their guests will have all the information they need. It's really exciting to see the cities and centers around the mountain work together to promote the area,” said Megan Wells the Communications Specialist for the Cowlitz County Tourism Bureau.
All businesses in the Cowlitz County area are invited to participate in the program; a complete and updated list is located online at www.visitmtsthelens.com. If you would like to be a passport location or have questions about the program, please contact Megan Wells at megan@visitmtsthelens.com or call 360-577-3137.
A copy of this press release is available for download in PDF format here
For Immediate Release - June 17, 2010
"Adventure Passport"
Find Your Adventurous Side at Mount St. Helens
Kelso, WA - The "Adventure Passport" is a new program provided by the Cowlitz County Tourism Bureau (CCTB) to encourage visitors to stay in the area for more than a day and explore all there is to see and do around Mount St. Helens.
The "Adventure Passport" is the size of an actual passport and includes information on places of interest and recreational activities in the Mount St. Helens region. The challenge to visitors is to get a minimum of seven stamps, one from each of the five incorporated cities of Cowlitz County, one from the SR-503/Lewis River Road side and one from the SR-504/Spirit Lake Highway side. At each location, visitors will receive a stamp on the flap just inside the back of the passport where they can also fill out their contact information; a map is located in the center of the passport for visitors to have stamped for their own records.
Once visitors have received all seven stamps, they can tear off the self-addressed postcard along the perforated edge, place a stamp on the front and put it in the mail. All participants that turn in a completed "Adventure Passport" postcard will receive an official Certificate of Completion.
In the fall, the CCTB will do a random drawing from the completed postcards received and the winner will get two tickets for a helicopter ride around Mount St. Helens, provided by Hoffstadt Bluffs Visitor Center.
“The 'Adventure Passport' is the perfect pocket-book manual of things to do around Mount St. Helens. It was a lot of hard work to put together but it will help tie businesses and destinations in the county together. Even local people are excited about the project, not realizing how much they can do so close to home, they're just as excited to get out there and complete the challenge themselves," said Megan Wells, Communications Specialist for the Tourism Bureau.
There are fourteen main stamp locations listed inside each passport where visitors can get a passport and stamp. All businesses in the Cowlitz County area are invited to participate in the program; a complete list will be updated frequently online at www.visitmtsthelens.com. If you would like to be a passport location or have questions about the program, please contact Megan Wells at megan@visitmtsthelens.com or call 360-577-3137.
A copy of this press release in PDF format is available for download here
News Release May 17, 2010
Mount St. Helens at 30 DVD
Kelso, WA - To commemorate the 30th anniversary of the May 18, 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption, the Cowlitz County Tourism Bureau has partnered with Discover Your Northwest and Compel Media of Portland, Oregon to produce the "Mount St. Helens: 30 Years of Change" DVD, now available for purchase.
The "Mount St. Helens: 30 Years of Change" DVD is a compilation of footage taken of Mount St. Helens from a helicopter, interviews of six people directly connected to the 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption and historic photos. Among the speakers in the video are: Dick Ford, retired Weyerhaeuser District Supervisor; Peter Frenzen, US Forest Service Monument Scientist; Bill Lehning, former YMCA Camp Director at Mount St. Helens; Mike Nichols, retired Cowlitz County Sherriff Deputy; Mark Nelson, current Cowlitz County Sherriff; and Dr. John Bishop, biology professor at Washington State University in Vancouver. The documentary is about an hour long and will be aired across Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana throughout the months of May and June; the next showings will be on May 18th in Portland, OR on KPTV at 6pm and KPDX at 9pm; Eugene, OR on KLSR at 10am; Spokane, WA on KXMN at 10am; Yakima, WA on KAPP at 10am; and Kennewick, WA/Tri-Cities on KVEW at 10am.
Kyle Justice, a producer at Compel Media in Portland, OR commented, "Most documentaries are primarily narration driven, with just short sound bites from the interviewees. The style of this project is much more theatrical in nature, where we've let the interviewees become the central characters to guide the story. Not only will viewers walk away with a deep sense of how the mountain has changed, but how the mountain has changed those closest to her." The "Mount St. Helens: 30 Years of Change" DVD features bonus tracks including extra interview segments, a two-day itinerary of things to do around Mount St. Helens and Mount St. Helens by Air footage. A clip from "Mount St. Helens: 30 Years of Change" is on the Discover Your Northwest website at www.discovernw.org, where the public can also preorder a copy of the DVD with the official shipping date set for May 24th. For questions about the "Mount St. Helens: 30 Years of Change" DVD, please contact Megan Wells at megan@visitmtsthelens.com or call 360-577-3137.
A copy of this press release in PDF format is available for download here
A list of airtimes is available here
Preorder your copy of the DVD here
News Release April 4, 2010
Tell Your Story: A Mount St. Helens at 30 Event
Community Members Share Stories About May 18, 1980.
Kelso, WA- In commemoration of the 30th Anniversary of the eruption of Mount St. Helens, the Cowlitz County Tourism Bureau in Washington State is hosting "Tell Your Story", an event on May 16th at Hoffstadt Bluffs Visitor Center.
The Bureau is inviting members of the community to share personal stories of where they were when the mountain erupted thirty years ago. Interviews will be conducted in both wings of the upstairs portion of Hoffstadt Bluffs in a living room style setting. The event will be filmed for a documentary of oral histories about Mount St. Helens and will serve as an historical preservation of the 1980 eruption.
When explaining the significance of the event, the Director of the Cowlitz County Tourism Bureau, Mark Plotkin said, “This event is a great opportunity for people to share first-hand experiences of their Mount St. Helens memories to be captured and made available for future generations. We don't want these stories to be lost and the mountain's legacy forgotten."
On May 16th the free Tell Your Story event will be held from 10am to 4pm at 15000 Spirit Lake Highway, Toutle, WA. Participants must sign up in advance due to limited space.
The Cowlitz County Tourism Bureau is looking for eyewitnesses, emergency services personnel, law enforcement, property owners, area residents and USFS, USGS and Weyerhaeuser employees. Screens and projectors will be available for audio and visual presentations; tables will be set up to display artifacts and other items. For questions about the event or information about sharing your story, please contact Megan Wells at megan@visitmtsthelens.com or call 360-577-3137.
A zipped file containing this press release, an application form and guidlines on completing it is available here.
News Release April 7, 2010
Mount St. Helens Institute presents Hissen’s “Mount St. Helens: Life From Zero”
Mount St. Helens documentary makes its U.S. premiere with three NW showings
AMBOY, Wash. April 7, 2010—Three northwest cities will host the first U.S. screenings of “Mount St. Helens: Life From Zero.” a stunning film that chronicles the ecological recovery at Mount St. Helens in the three decades since its catastrophic 1980 eruption. The screenings are part of a series of events sponsored by the Mount St. Helens Institute this year in commemoration of the eruption’s 30th anniversary.
Austrian filmmaker Jörg Daniel Hissen spent four years making the 52-minute film and interviewed scientists in the field as they tracked plants and animals in the volcano’s blast zone. Each screening will be followed by a question-and-answer session with Hissen and the two researchers featured in the film: Charlie Crisafulli, an ecologist with the U.S. Forest Service’s Pacific Northwest Research Station, and Jon Major, a hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. The evenings will offer a rare chance for the public to witness the inner workings of life in Mount St. Helens’ dynamic landscape.
Screenings will be held in Oregon and Washington in the following cities:
SEATTLE: April 13, at 7 pm at Seattle Musical Theater, 7120 62nd NE
BATTLE GROUND: April 14, at 7 pm at Battle Ground Cinema, 1700 SW 9th Avenue.
PORTLAND: April 15, at 7 pm at Hollywood Theater, 4122 NE Sandy Boulevard.
Tickets will be available at the door with a suggested $10 donation. Seating is limited.
To view a short trailer of the film, visit here.
This event is generously supported by Lufthansa Airlines, the Pacific Northwest Research Station and Regal Cinema.
More information about this and other events in honor of the 30th anniversary of the May 1980 eruption is available at www.mshinstitute.org. The Mount St. Helens Institute is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people of all ages gain an understanding of the natural processes and cultural heritage of the Pacific Northwest’s volcanic landscapes. The institute promotes stewardship, science and appreciation of the Northwest. Visit our website for information on lectures, hikes, outings, work parties, and how to become a member.
News Release February 9, 2010
State Tourism Industry Offers its Support in Olympia
Legislative Priorities Include State Convention Center Expansion, Preservation of the State Tourism Program Budget and Lodging Tax Fund Reinvestment in Tourism
OLYMPIA, WASH. – Today some 200 tourism industry professionals from across Washington will convene in the state capitol to advocate for a $14.2 billion industry that supports nearly 150,000 jobs, contributes nearly $1 billion in local and state tax revenues and ranks fourth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) produced in Washington.
Tourism matters, according to the preliminary 2009 Travel Impacts Report released today by the Washington State Department of Commerce and Washington State Tourism. Industry professionals will meet in Olympia to explain Why Tourism Matters - clad with namesake buttons from the public awareness campaign launched last year. The contingent of destination marketers, hoteliers, tour and transportation leaders and representatives from many other businesses across Washington will meet one-on-one with legislators to discuss basic funding and infrastructure improvements that will keep Washington from falling behind in a competitive tourism marketplace.
The industry’s legislative agenda includes support for continued funding for the 2009-2011 Washington State Tourism budget; use of existing funds to continue studies on the proposed expansion of the Washington State Convention Center; opposition to House and Senate bills that would raid and dilute local lodging tax funds that have traditionally served as critical reinvestment in the state’s tourism industry (Section 11 of HB 2650, Section 11 of HB 3179 and Section 5 of SB 6164); and, opposition to action on a newly-posted Senate bill that, if passed, would not only deplete basic tourism funding but seriously undermine the state tourism industry’s competitive marketing position (SB 6118).
“We understand that our legislators face enormous pressure to dig our state out of this financial crisis,” said John Cooper, President of the Washington State Destination Marketing Organizations (WSDMO). “We’re in Olympia today to pledge our support. If a foundation of industry growth is maintained, tourism can produce quick economic benefit. Tourism can create and sustain jobs. The direct spending and tax base contributions of out-of-state visitors can be part of the solution.”
The Why Tourism Matters public outreach and advocacy campaign, which launched last year in Olympia, conveys the importance of Washington’s tourism industry by way of advertising, online content, public relations and cooperative industry communications. Visit the campaign website at www.whytourismmatters.com.
Today’s state initiatives coincide with national advocacy efforts, which include: support for the adoption of the Travel Promotion Act designed to keep the U.S. competitive in the global tourism marketplace; promotion of travel safety and security; and an industry-wide campaign to counteract the harmful political rhetoric and sensationalism that is influencing the unnecessary cancellation of corporate meetings and events across the U.S.
Washington State’s core of private sector destination marketing organizations competitively market their respective cities, counties and regions to leisure travelers and meeting and convention groups. Largely non-profit economic development agencies, these convention and visitor bureaus and chambers of commerce work in tandem with the Washington State Tourism Commission and Washington State Tourism office to position the state as a premier travel destination. Direct visitor spending benefits hotels, retailers, restaurants, attractions, transportation services and other businesses, and supports jobs throughout the state.
About WSDMO:
The Washington State Destination Marketing Organizations Association (WSDMO) is an independent, non-profit trade association advocating tourism investment and promotion as economic development. The mission of the WSDMO is to enhance the awareness and influence of the tourism industry and to serve as the single unifying voice for all of Washington State’s destination marketing organizations and tourism industry.
Contact: David Blandford Washington State Destination Marketing Association (206) 461-5806 / cell: (206) 713-8314 dblandford@visitseattle.org