40 years ago today, Mount St. Helens erupted, spewing hot rock, gas, and ash across Southwest Washington, killing 57 people and forever altering the landscape surrounding the monument. Our communities still feel the effects of this historic eruption today.

Growing up here in Southwest Washington, I've had a couple of opportunities to climb Mount St. Helens. My first trek up the monument was when I was around 10 years old - sporting my white washed jeans, and puff-painted sunglasses. In the photo below, you can see how thrilled my mom and I were to finally reach the summit! And just a few years ago, I had the opportunity to climb St. Helens again - and what a climb it was! I remember how difficult it was, because you'd take one step in ash, and slide back. The major bummer was losing my hat halfway up and getting a bad sunburn where my hair was parted! But overall, both hikes were an incredibly rewarding experience that I will never forget.

This monument is such an important treasure to our region and folks from all over – for hiking, hunting, and so much more. I remain committed to preserving this kind of access to the Mount St. Helens area. I’ll also continue working to protect the nearby communities that must keep a watchful eye on the impacts from the eruption – even four decades later.

There's no doubt that our small businesses have been hit hard by the COVID-19 outbreak, and we want to see our Southwest Washington businesses reopen their doors. Until they do, I'm ensuring they have the assistance and tools to weather this storm. 

I've been working to strengthen and make necessary changes to the Paycheck Protection Program that keeps workers earning a paycheck and businesses afloat. READ MORE HERE
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With multiple state and federal recreation areas being opened on May 5th, I'm pushing the Forest Service to quickly restore public access to its sites within the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area and the Gifford Pinchot National Forest recreation areas. 

With the proper social distancing guidelines in place, increasing the number of recreational areas will actually help promote safety by giving residents already visiting the Gorge more options if other areas are at capacity. READ MORE HERE 

I also recently requested the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reopen National Wildlife Refuges in Southwest Washington that have been closed or restricted during the COVID-19 outbreak. I'm pleased that wildlife refuges, like the Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge is now open and accessible to folks in Southwest Washington.
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I recently traveled back to D.C. to meet with my colleagues on the health-focused subcommittee, and we heard from experts who weighed in specifically on supply chain improvements, our over-reliance on China for personal protective equipment, medical supplies, and other drugs, protecting vulnerable populations and other issues related to COVID-19.

I'll keep working both at home and in the capital on pinpointing the most effective ways to combat this virus and get our economies in Southwest Washington reopened.

Watch my short video below discussing our heath subcommittee hearing: