Does look rather like Abies balsamea. Does this mean your rambo run (this thread!) went ahead, and your neighbour found it and dug it up?? ;-)

Resin

Abies lasiocarpa. On young trees grown in sun, and on the leaders and upper limbs of older trees, the needles have sharp tips.This is sometimes erroneously attributed to cone bearing branches.

heh yes Resin, the neighbor is a London native, he participated in the Berlin Airlift, he's well into his 70s, and is one crazy bloke.:)

The trees have bothered me for some time since they don't appear to be natives. It also beggs the question, who planted them there, a citizen, or the USFS? If it's the USFS, why? I'll have to call them.

pinetree30, it's my understanding that Subalpine fir grow only a few inches per year and the needles are longer than A. balsamea. The tree pictured has 1'-16" growths from last year. It also, closely resembles my potted Canaan firs.

Just for reference.:)
Caanan fir:
{{gwi:640372}}
Balsam fir:
{{gwi:640373}}
Fraser fir:
{{gwi:640374}}

They're all potted but you get the idea.:)

Subalpine Fir can grow faster when the conditions are right. But this plant doesn't have the needle arrangement that I've seen for the species (including similarly-aged young plants).

"who planted them there, a citizen, or the USFS?"

Aha, the implication of that is that USFS staff are not citizens? :-)

One other point particular to Mount Saint Helens - apparently, Subalpine Fir doesn't occur there, because of previous historical eruptions: "Prior to the 1980 eruption, timberlines on Mount Saint Helens were odd, because they were exceptionally low (about 4400 feet), and composed largely of species seldom found at upper timberline  for example, Lodgepole Pine (the dominant species), Western White Pine, Douglas-fir, Black Cottonwood, Noble Fir and Western Hemlock. Unlike the relatively stable alpine timberlines elsewhere in the Cascades, the forest on Saint Helens was rapidly advancing upward." (Arno & Hammerly, Timberline).

It would be worth asking the neighbour exactly where he got the plants . . . let me guess it was adjacent to a visitor center car park or other such site where trees would be planted.

Resin

A. lasiocarpa can grow lots faster in the Cascades than it usually does in the Rockies, and looks quite different in those locales. And conditions of cultivation can really jack up growth rates of almost any conifer.
The post was pretty vague about location, and did not imply the origin was actually on Mt. St. Helens. If it is a native Cascades fir, I'll stick with lasiocarpa.

If it's a subalpine fir how come the needles are pointed and don't have any silver on top?

Lasiocarpa needles can be very pointy on leaders and upper branches. That's true of many firs and is usually mistakenly attributed to being characteristic of cone-bearing branches. Upper needle surfaces can be quite dark, giving this species a dark green appearance, certainly not a silvery look.

Looks like the whole plant is pointy. Branching also uncharacteristic. I think it was planted rather than a wild native tree.

That's always possible. I think we are all operating on the assumption that this is wild and a Cascades native, but the actual site info is vague and non-specific.

The trees were taken from the side of a road near St. Helens. For the exact location, I'll ask. How it got there was only speculation on my part. I was also thinking out loud if USFS was reforesting/experimenting with non-native true firs.

Resin, with out a "wilding" permit taking trees from government land is illegal. Taking them from a visitors center would be down right comical.:)

Pinetree30, there's an Abies lasiocarpa down the street from me that doesn't resemble the tree above but is consistant with these yahoo pics.

abies lasiocarpa pics
Anyways, thanks for your expert opinions.:)