Mount St. Helens Lodge & Education Center: Financing Outdoor Learning at a Living Volcano

Mount St. Helens Institute (MSHI) and the USDA Forest Service are transforming an underused visitor center into a self-sustaining campus that will host overnight outdoor-school programs, family camps, and recreation lodging.

QV structured the financing roadmap and built a flexible cash-flow model that turns program and lodging revenue into a reliable engine for long-term operations and debt service.

Once the full campus is operational it is projected to produce $3 million in annual revenue, create 25 new year-round jobs, and triple annual student participation to more than 4,000 youths served each year.

A lake with a dock in the foreground and Mount St. Helens in the distance

Problem

MSHI has reached capacity for day-only STEM programs, and:

  • No overnight facilities exist on public land in the Monument.

  • Grant funding arrives slowly and after expenses, which creates cash-flow gaps.

  • Lenders require security that most nonprofit operators on federal land lack.

MSHI asked QV to deliver a financing strategy that would unlock capital and de-risk a multi-phase build.

Forested hills in the foreground and Mount St. Helens topped with snow in the background

Approach

  • 30-year special-use lease negotiated with the Forest Service to provide lender-grade site control.

  • Flexible financial model developed by QV to stress-testing pricing, occupancy, and phased construction—shared with agency, donors, and a local CDFI.

  • Blended-bridge facility designed with the CDFI so MSHI can draw short-term capital against reimbursable grants and repay with campus revenues.

  • Phased build plan (camp/RV → lodges → cabins) aligned project scope with capital availability and early demand signals.

    QV capabilities applied include recreation finance, outcomes-based modeling, public-land permitting, CDFI structuring, and grant stacking.

A rendering of the facilities for the Mount St. Helens Lodge and Education Center as part of the master plan

Impact

  • Jobs created: ~25 year-round positions once the full campus is operational

  • Annual revenue: $3 million (at full build-out, from education programs and lodging/events)

  • Students reached: 4,000+ youths served each year, tripling current participation

  • Overnight access: 3,000+ new overnight guests per year through camping, yurts, and cabins

The above projections are based on QV’s June 2025 modeling for MSHI.