PORTLAND -- The Bureau of Land Management plans to lease 217 acres near Mount St. Helens to a Spokane mining company.

kgw.com photo/viewer Rob Beauregard

A look at steam coming from Mt. St. Helens as seen in this view from a nearby airplane.

The bureau's Portland office says today an environmental assessment has been released on the application filed by the Idaho General Mines company. The company cannot start work without an environmental assessment decision expected this spring and the approval of the Forest Service.

The land 12 miles northeast of the volcano is in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. It was purchased in the 1980s by the Trust for Public Land and turned over to the Forest Service to protect the Green River.

POLL: Mining okay near Mt. St. Helens?

The mining company is seeking permission to explore for copper, silver and gold.

Mining opponents with the "Gifford Pinchot Task Force" say it's a betrayal of public trust for the government to consider leasing land that was given to protect it from mining.

More: Read BLM announcement

Public comment address: Eric Hoffman, BLM