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Visual Calendar of Courses.

Adult & Family

Training Camp Weeks (for adults, teens with prereqs)

Fall-Spring Class Series (for adults and teens)

Summer Weekend Stayovers (for youth and families)

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Summer Residential Intensives:

Earth Skills Teaching Apprenticeship

Permaculture Pioneer Facilitators Program

Recreational Administration Internship

Youth Mentoring CIT Program

Fall-Spring Residential Intensives:

Wolf Journey Naturalist Survey

Permaculture Pioneer Case Study

Future Scout Tracking Intensive

Wild Healers Herbal Exploration

Seasonal Primitive Skills Preparation leading to the Stone Age Living Experience

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• Our Book Series
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Wolf Camp was voted 1 of 2 Best Camps in the Northwest Family News Reader's Poll of 2001, the only year they ran a poll, and we were also chosen as one of the five "best camps ever" by YM Magazine in its March 2003 issue.

Summer 2009: Permaculture Pioneer Facilitators Program

Fall-Spring 2009-10: Permaculture Pioneer Case Study

Scroll Down or Click for Specifics:

• Program Dates, Deadlines, Prerequisites;
• Benefits & Goals of the Permaculure Pioneer Program;
• Skills Covered In This Program;
• Program Schedule & Tuition Breakdown;
• Program History;
• How to Apply for this Program;

Permaculture Pioneer Facilitators Program Dates: June 13 - August 16, 2009 with optional extension to September 5th, has no prerequisite. We have availability for 4 individuals in this program for 2009, so reserve your spot by applying right away.

Case Study Program Dates: September 7th, 2009 - August 15th, 2010 with optional extension to October 31st, 2010, has the prerequisite of successful completion of any of our summer residential intensives.

Registration Deadlines: Apply by March 31st and the price will be $3,000. If you successfully complete a summer residential intensive, there is no extra fee for fall-spring programs, except for 10 hrs/wk work trade while living on campus. Travel and some food expenses, required health insurance, and optional fees for participation in external courses, are not included.

You will have greater success with these programs if you have experience with as many of the following activities as possible:

• Permaculture Design Courses
• Pioneering Skills (like knowing how to chop wood, use human-powered tools safely and efficiently, etc.)
• Community Living Experiences
• Teaching Experience (especially understanding the needs of various ages)
• Time Outdoors (especially growing up playing in the woods, deserts, or beaches around your home; harvesting fruits and vegetables, fish and animals both domestic and wild, as a youth; plus taking adventures on the mountains, prairies, and waterways of this beautiful earth as a young adult)
• Wild Edible Foods; Herbal Studies (we're looking for a staff herbalist)
• Wilderness Survival; Primitive Craftwork (earth skills specialists)
• Music & Artwork; Photography & Recording; Writing & Journaling
• Wilderness First Aid, Search & Rescue; Lifeguarding; EMT Training

Overview of Benefits

The summer Facilitators Program is open to adults and families. It includes 3 weeks of training at the start of the program, 3 weeks of participation in the cultivation of our Permaculture Pioneer Patch within Zone One of our campus, 3 weeks of assistance at summer youth camps, and 1 week of teaching at the end of the summer, plus diligent note taking during activities, blogging at noontime during each camp day, and also co-coordination of home-grown meals for campers throughout the summer.

Beyond your initial tuition and health insurance, you need not incur any other expense during the summer. Our permaculture specialist Jean "Jay" Doyon (tentative depending on visa) will be your mentor through this experience, with guidance from Chris and other instructors who will be teaching during the summer.

In exchange for the volunteer work you do over the summer, you may complimentarily attend any of the courses we offer in the fall and spring for as long as your relationship to the Wolf Camp community remains healthy and happy. Of course whenever living on campus between fall and spring, we all contribute at least 10 hrs/wk work trade, and we cover our own travel and some food expenses, required health insurance, and fees for participation in external courses.

And finally, graduates become eligible to receive some of the highest teaching salaries available anywhere in the outdoor educational field as a Wolf Camp instructor, though hiring is dependent on enrollment and the ongoing development of your skills.

The fall-spring Case Study program is open to adults and families. The program focuses on participation in four week-long group learning experiences in the fall, sixteen classes which run 9-5 on Mondays & Fridays in the fall and spring, at least six half-day individual mentoring sessions with your program facilitator, thirty-eight independent study weeks at camp (16 required, 22 optional) plus optional participation in any of the other courses in which space remains available during the autumn through spring. Note taking (or tape recording) during every class is required, along with weekly blogging. Attendance at permaculture gatherings taking place around the country are optional, travel expenses are shared, and tuition for those are at your own expense. Your independent study coursework follows the field exercises in Wolf Journey Parts 1, 3, 5 and 7.

Your initial tuition is the only financial contribution you are expected to incur to Wolf Camp. It’s a great way to live simply, learn greatly, and lay a foundation for your future. There are also discounts available for previous experience and additional family members. In particular, if you have already graduated from permaculture internships or earth skills courses in the past, then you will receive a discount on your fees.

Goals of the Program

The main objective of the summer Facilitators Program is to provide you with the space, time, and means to put into practice the fundamentals of permaculture and pioneering skills that you learn here or have gained at other venues. The main objective of the fall-spring Case Study program is to facilitate the ability for you to carry out a case study on the permaculture design projects which you implemented on our campus during your summer Facilitators Program, and to ultimately write a thesis to earn your final certification as a permaculturist.

As with permaculture, our definition of pioneering is one that looks to a future where people are skilled enough to live self-sufficiently and sustainably on the land they inhabit, while also interacting well with their community and world as a whole. Our goal at Wolf Camp is to implement the most appropriate permaculture technologies for living here, based on the rhythms of our micro-climate and bio-region, as well as on the rhythms of the individuals who are here.

As part of the fall-spring Case Study program, you will help develop a wall-size permaculture calendar to document the best times for us to cultivate and harvest, while also developing your own personal medicine wheel of health. You can develop your own projects to expand the organic farm, forest gardens, and sustainable technologies. If you want, you can also develop enterprises for yourself like selling things you make or produce from the mini-farm we are getting underway in order to learn about business and make a little money. We'll also endeavor to arrange field trips to visit other types of permaculture internship programs, organic farms and communities so that we can try to apply any of their ideas to Wolf Camp and your case study which are appropriate. However, permaculture gatherings don't seem to be consistent year-to-year (and they never seem to schedule them very far in advance) but we strive to attend a few every year.

No matter your previous experience, you will be expected to fully participate in every possible training opportunity to push your skills to a higher level of excellence, although your health will be the priority. The goal is to always develop ourselves into better and better specialists in the field of earth skills and permaculture.

Permaculture Skills Practiced
• Health & Organizational Strategies (western lineal and medicine wheel use for self, lessons, projects)
• Organic & Biodynamic Gardening
• Farm Animal Care & Cultivation
• Natural Selection Forestry (chopping and chainsawing, wood splitting and moving)
• Sustainable Building
• Biodiesel Manufacturing and Vegetable Oil Engine Conversion
• Hydroelectric Power Generation and other small appropriate technology development
• Hide Tanning, Basketry, Woodwork, and other pioneer crafts.
• Land Mapping & Water Navigation (orienteering with and without modern aids)
Wild Edible Foraging & Preparation (Herbs, Nuts, Roots, Flowers, Fruits, Insects)
• Natural Cooking & Food Storage (pit cook, clay oven, ash cakes, smoking, jerkying, pemmican)
• Medicinal Herb Collection & Preservation (drawing from knowledge of area herbalists)
• Preventative Health & Herbal Spas (from daily health routines, to our special spa treatments)
• Pioneer Style Shelters, plus Emergency Shelter & Primitive Shelter.
• Pioneer Tool Making & Maintenance
• Pioneer Hunting & Fishing
• Trapping
• Clay Harvesting, Molding & Firing
• Canoeing, Raft Making, plus Sailing and Kayaking,
• Parfleching (carrying cases, drum making, sheaths and quivers with fur and tanned hide)

Additional Earth Skills Learned
• Wildlife Tracking & Bird Language.
• Nature Sketching & Journaling.
• Wet Fire Maintenance & Fire by Friction
• Natural Water Purification (seeps, filters, rock boiling, and locating natural springs)
• Bowls & Cordage Making (double and triple reverse wrap using nettle, fireweed, cedar, kelp seaweed)
• Human Tracking
• Backpacking & Camping
• Bioregional Ecosystems (old growth temperate rainforest, glaciated alpine meadow, intertidal and estuary, river and lake, wetland and bog, desert and sagebrush steppe, mixed pine and subalpine forest)
• Music and the Arts (flute making, drumming, songwriting, poetry, clay sculpting, natural paints, singing and pianos/guitars on hand)
• Influences of Nature on Spirituality (buddhist, christian, hindi, indigenous, jewish, muslim) including opportunities of retreats and quests, sweat lodges and fasts

Management & Educational Skills
• Emergency Rescue, Advanced First Aid, CPR (wilderness and water settings)
• Best skills to introduce to each age group (3-6, 7-9, 10-12, 13-15, 16-18, 19-21, young adults, parents, elders)
• Most effective methods to use with each age group (didactic/wolf, questioning/coyote, imagining/fox, imitation/dog)
• Delivery of age appropriate stories (personal, european, african, persian, chinese, other eastern, indigenous)
• Risk Management (assessing sites, planning activities, mitigating hazards)
• Incorporating Earth Skills & Starting New Schools (examples of non-profits, partnerships, sole ventures, and communities)
• Political Environmentalism (left and right wing strategies, legislative and artistic strategies)

Schedule & Tuition Breakdown
See our Calendar of courses for a visual perspective, and take a look at the Training Camp Weeks for descriptions of initial courses. International Students: The INS just added some extra hurdles, so please inquire as to the latest status on obtaining a visa for study with us.

Your tuition includes participation in all programs at Wolf Camp throughout the length of your training period. There are discounts given for previous relevant trainings you may have taken, and when additional family members register. You can also lower the price of your tuition by arriving at camp as early as May 12th to do work trade, with your minimum financial contribution bottoming out at $1,500. Remember, however, that 10 hrs/wk work trade is also required to live on campus in exchange for camping, rustic facilities, and shared meals.

Your Tuition: Apply by March 31st and the price will be $3,000.

The summer schedule for the Permaculture Pioneer Facilitators Program includes:

• Administrative Mentoring fee of $1,500 is included in your tuition.
• June 13-15: Cooperative Intensives Orientation, with tentative trip to Lummi Indian Stommish Festival, is complimentary.
• June 16-20 Training Camp: Overview of Earth Skills & Permaculture or the Earth Skills Proficiency Challenge, depending on your experience. (This week represents $500 of your tuition.)
• June 21: Solstice Celebration is complimentary for cooperative intensive participants and alumni.
• June 22-28 Training Camp: Pedagogy of Permaculture & Earth Skills Education - Preparing for Summer. (This week represents $500 of your tuition.)
• June 28: Three Amongst the Wolves presentation by world-renown adventurist Helen Thayer, also author of Polar Dream and Walking the Gobi, is complimentary.
• June 29: You'll be assisting with the Wolf Camp Open House, Visiting Day, Work-A-Thon, and Barbecue.
• June 30 - July 4 Training Camp: Outdoor Mentoring, Risk Management, First Aid, Lifeguarding & CPR. (This week represents $500 of your tuition.)
• July 5-6: Off from noon-noon, or participate complimentarily in the weekend stayover theme of Wildlife Tracking & Birding.
• July 6-12 Begin to implement the design of our Permaculture Pioneer Patch within Zone One of our campus.
• July 12-13: Off from noon-noon, or participate complimentarily in the weekend stayover theme of Firemaking.
• July 13-19 You'll assist with one of the following overnight youth camps: Survivors Side of the Mountain or Living with Primitive Food, Fire & Shelter or one of the following kids day camps: Wild Chefs & Healers or Future Survivors Fun.
• July 19-20: Off from noon-noon, or participate complimentarily in the weekend stayover theme of Ethnobotany.
• July 20-26 You'll either assist with the following overnight youth camp: Herbal Medicine and the Seaside Spa or continue to implement the design of our Permaculture Pioneer Patch.
• July 26-27: Off from noon-noon, or participate complimentarily in the weekend stayover theme of Arts (primitive crafts and the composition of poetry, painting, and music)
• July 27 - Aug 2 You'll assist with one of the following overnight youth camps: Natural Artists & Musicians or The Stone Age Artisan or one of the following kids day camps: The Crafty Artisan or Wildlife Tracking & Birding.
• August 2-3: Off from noon-noon, or participate complimentarily in the weekend stayover theme of 4x4 Essentials (preparations for backcountry travel)
• August 3-9 You'll assist with one of the following overnight camps: The Alpine Quest - Navigating, Camping & Composing or the Ultimate Herbalist: Wisdom of the Alpine or continue to implement the design of our Permaculture Pioneer Patch.
• August 9-10: Off from noon-noon, or participate complimentarily in the weekend stayover theme of Scouting (with unique schedule due to Stilliguamish River Festival)
August 10-16 You'll help to teach one of the following overnight camps: The Permaculture Activist - Pioneering the Future overnight youth camp or Old School Pioneers kids day camp.
• August 16-17: Off from noon-noon, or participate complimentarily in the weekend stayover theme of Maps (geographies of washington and scotland)

Optional Schedule Add-Ons:

• August 17-23 You can complimentarily attend and assist with the GeoTRIP overnight youth camp, or continue to implement the design of our Permaculture Pioneer Patch.
• August 17-30 You can attend and assist with the following overnight youth camp for an additional fee of $2,000 for round-trip flight, room and board: Ultimate Tracker in Scotland.
• August 25-29 You can complimentarily attend the following advanced camp: Ultimate Survivalist: Harvesting Preparations, Primitive Test and Hunter Education Options, or continue to implement the design of our Permaculture Pioneer Patch.
• September 1-5 You can complimentarily attend one of the following alumni group projects: Wild Harvesting or Archery Hunting.

The schedule for the fall-spring Case Study program runs from September 7th, 2009 - August 15th, 2010 with optional extension to October 31st, 2010. Although some permaculturists have been successful manifesting a permaculture design on plot of land, even fewer have documented a full case study, which conventionally is considered to take 2 years. Our program is designed for you to arrive at Wolf Camp in May or June to do some work trade, receive intensive training during the summer Facilitators Program in order to help design our permaculture plan and begin to implement it, then continue working with appropriate technologies on our land through the fall, winter, spring and following summer and fall. In reality, you are welcome to create your case study to last as long as you wish, staying until it is manifest, for as long as your relationship with the Wolf Camp community remains healthy and happy.

Again, there is no fee required for the following schedule as long as you successfully completed the summer Facilitators Program, and you continue to contribute 10 hrs/wk work trade in exchange for living at camp. Travel and some food expenses, along with your health insurance and care, are your own responsibility, as are fees for optional participation in external permaculture training courses which we may attend together, including some of those found on following links:
• www.friendsofthetrees.net/events.htm
• www.wiseearth.org/home.html
• www.eugenepermacultureguild.org
• www.permacultureactivist.net/DesignCourse/Calendars.htm#namerica

• Monday, Sept 7: Wolf Journey Reflections, Wilderness Medicine & Mushrooms required class.
• Tuesday, Sept 8: Herbal Gardening and Seashore Wildcrafting optional class if space remains available.
• Wednesday, Sept 9: Preparing for the Stone Age - Processing Plants & Animals, Shelter Building and Trapping optional class if space remains available.
• Thursday, Sept 10: Search & Rescue plus Tracking the Pines, Alpines, Dunes & Canyonlands optional class if space remains available.
• Friday, Sept 11: Farming, Forestry & Appropriate Technology Design is the core class of your program.

• Sept 12-19: You can choose to study Wolf Journey Field Exercises and Pioneer Patch Projects in exchange for 10 hrs/wk work trade, or travel with us to the Rabbitstick primitive skills rendezvous at your own expense.
• Sunday, September 20: You can complimentarily attend our International Day of Peace & Equinox Bonfire, Medicine Lodge & Feast for alumni.
• Sept 21-28: Study the Wolf Journey Field Exercises and Pioneer Patch Projects in exchange for 10 hrs/wk work trade, and schedule a half day mentoring session with your program facilitator.

• Monday, Sept 29: Wolf Journey Reflections, Wilderness Medicine & Mushrooms required class.
• Tuesday, Sept 30: Herbal Gardening and Seashore Wildcrafting optional class if space remains available.
• Wednesday, Oct 1: Preparing for the Stone Age - Processing Plants & Animals, Shelter Building and Trapping optional class if space remains available.
• Thursday, Oct 2: Search & Rescue plus Tracking the Pines, Alpines, Dunes & Canyonlands optional class if space remains available.
• Friday, Oct 3: Farming, Forestry & Appropriate Technology Design is the core class of your program.

• October 3-12: You can choose to study Wolf Journey Field Exercises and Pioneer Patch Projects in exchange for 10 hrs/wk work trade, or travel to the Falling Leaves Rendezvous with us at your own expense.
• October 13-17 You can complimentarily attend the following alumni group project at your own travel expense: Hunting & Harvesting the Dry Side.
• October 17-19 You can travel to the Okanogan Family Barter Faire or the International Tracking Symposium with us at your own expense.

• Monday, Oct 20: Wolf Journey Reflections, Wilderness Medicine & Mushrooms required class.
• Tuesday, Oct 21: Herbal Gardening and Seashore Wildcrafting optional class if space remains available.
• Wednesday, Oct 22: Preparing for the Stone Age - Processing Plants & Animals, Shelter Building and Trapping optional class if space remains available.
• Thursday, Oct 23: Search & Rescue plus Tracking the Pines, Alpines, Dunes & Canyonlands optional class if space remains available.
• Friday, Oct 24: Farming, Forestry & Appropriate Technology Design is the core class of your program.

• October 25-26 You can complimentarily attend our 12th Annual Harvest Party for alumni, friends and family.
• Oct 27 - Nov 2: Study the Wolf Journey Field Exercises and Pioneer Patch Projects in exchange for 10 hrs/wk work trade, and schedule a half day mentoring session with your program facilitator.
• Nov 3-7: Complimentarily attend the following alumni group project: Pioneer & Primitive Living Experiences.
• Nov 10-14: Study the Wolf Journey Field Exercises and Pioneer Patch Projects in exchange for 10 hrs/wk work trade, and schedule a half day mentoring session with your program facilitator.

• Nov 17 - Dec 19: Optional independent study weeks to further manifest your case study and continue with the Wolf Journey Field Exercises and Pioneer Patch Projects in exchange for 10 hrs/wk work trade when living on campus.
• Saturday, Dec 20: You can complimentarily participate in our Solstice Sweat for alumni.
• Dec 21 - Jan 7: Optional complimentary campus living to participate in our holiday dreaming project.
• January 8-11: You can participate in our alumni envisioning retreat in exchange for 5 hours of work trade.
• January 12 - March 5: Optional independent study weeks to further manifest your case study and continue with the Wolf Journey Field Exercises and Pioneer Patch Projects in exchange for 10 hrs/wk work trade when living on campus, and/or attend optional earth skills and permaculture gatherings at your own expense to further your education.

• March 6-8: Cooperative Intensives Reorientation, with tentative trip to the Mountain Man Rendezvous here in Monroe at your own expense.

• Monday, March 9: Wolf Journey Reflections and the Hidden Wilderness required class.
• Tuesday, March 10: Herbal Gardening and Seashore Wildcrafting optional class if space remains available.
• Wednesday, March 11: Wilderness Medicine and Grand Projects of the Stone Age optional class if space remains available.
• Thursday, March 12: Search & Rescue plus Tracking the Pines, Alpines, Dunes & Canyonlands optional class if space remains available.
• Friday, March 13: Farming, Forestry & Appropriate Technology Design is the core class of your program.

• March 16-20: In exchange for 10 hrs/wk work trade, participate in the following optional events: Group meeting and mentoring on Monday; St. Patrick's Day party on Tuesday; rebuilding the medicine lodge on Wednesday, equinox sweat on Thursday and equinox wandering day on Friday.
• March 23-27: Study the Wolf Journey Field Exercises and Pioneer Patch Projects in exchange for 10 hrs/wk work trade, and schedule a half day mentoring session with your program facilitator.

• Monday, March 30: Wolf Journey Reflections and the Hidden Wilderness required class.
• Tuesday, March 31: Herbal Gardening and Seashore Wildcrafting optional class if space remains available.
• Wednesday, April 1: Wilderness Medicine and Grand Projects of the Stone Age optional class if space remains available.
• Thursday, April 2: Search & Rescue plus Tracking the Pines, Alpines, Dunes & Canyonlands optional class if space remains available.
• Friday, April 3: Farming, Forestry & Appropriate Technology Design is the core class of your program.

• April 4-12: Optional independent study week to further manifest your case study and continue with the Wolf Journey Field Exercises and Pioneer Patch Projects in exchange for 10 hrs/wk work trade when living on campus.
• April 13-19: Optional week to further manifest your case study and continue with the Wolf Journey Field Exercises and Pioneer Patch Projects in exchange for 10 hrs/wk work trade, and/or attend the Rivercane earth skills rendezvous at your own expense.

• Monday, April 20: Wolf Journey Reflections and the Hidden Wilderness required class.
• Tuesday, April 21: Herbal Gardening and Seashore Wildcrafting optional class if space remains available.
• Wednesday, April 22: Wilderness Medicine and Grand Projects of the Stone Age optional class if space remains available.
• Thursday, April 23: Search & Rescue plus Tracking the Pines, Alpines, Dunes & Canyonlands optional class if space remains available.
• Friday, April 24: Farming, Forestry & Appropriate Technology Design is the core class of your program.

• April 25 - May 3: Study the Wolf Journey Field Exercises and Pioneer Patch Projects in exchange for 10 hrs/wk work trade, and schedule a half day mentoring session with your program facilitator.

• Monday, May 4: Wolf Journey Reflections and the Hidden Wilderness required class.
• Tuesday, May 5: Herbal Gardening and Seashore Wildcrafting optional class if space remains available.
• Wednesday, May 6: Wilderness Medicine and Grand Projects of the Stone Age optional class if space remains available.
• Thursday, May 7: Search & Rescue plus Tracking the Pines, Alpines, Dunes & Canyonlands optional class if space remains available.
• Friday, May 8: Farming, Forestry & Appropriate Technology Design is the core class of your program.

• May 9-18: Optional week to further manifest your case study and continue with the Wolf Journey Field Exercises and Pioneer Patch Projects in exchange for 10 hrs/wk work trade
• May 16-18: Optional travel with us to the Native Shores Rendezvous at your own expense.
• May 18-25: Study the Wolf Journey Field Exercises and Pioneer Patch Projects in exchange for 10 hrs/wk work trade, and schedule a half day mentoring session with your program facilitator sometime mon-fri.

• Tuesday, May 26: Herbal Gardening and Seashore Wildcrafting optional class if space remains available.
• Wednesday, May 27: Wilderness Medicine and Grand Projects of the Stone Age optional class if space remains available.
• Thursday, May 28: Search & Rescue plus Tracking the Pines, Alpines, Dunes & Canyonlands optional class if space remains available.
• Friday, May 29: Farming, Forestry & Appropriate Technology Design is the core class of your program.
• Monday, June 1: Wolf Journey Reflections and the Hidden Wilderness required class.

• June 2-12: Optional independent study weeks to further manifest your case study and continue with the Wolf Journey Field Exercises and Pioneer Patch Projects in exchange for 10 hrs/wk work trade when living on campus, or attend the MAPS Meet earth skills rendezvous at your own expense.
• June 13 - August 15: Continue to manifest your case study and help guide new permaculture pioneer program participants throughout the summer.
• Aug 16 - Nov 7: Optional continuance of your case study to bring it full circle, harvest the fruits of your labor, and celebrate the success of your experience.

Permaculture Pioneer History:

2005 was the pilot year of our permaculture case study after the purchase of our new camp and organic farm properties and a seminar lead by permaculture specialist Michael "Skeeter" Pilarski in 2004. We also had our first apprentice who was trained in permaculture join us that year, Rachel Rothman, and she has been living at Aprovecho in Oregon for a few years with her husband Jeremy Roth who runs the organic gardening program there. In 2006, we had another permaculture trained intern join us, Jean "Jay" Doyon, and he helped us set up the first official year of the (short term) program that year, when one other student, Mike Dussault, who has become an important supporter of Wolf Camp, joined us for the late spring and early summer. We had two applicants for a limited version of the program in 2007, but neither stayed for more than a couple weeks, opting for other (non-permaculture) educational opportunities elsewhere. This year, we feel ready to expand our Permaculture Pioneer program to the full size of its vision, have designed the program to imitate the successful Earth Skills Teaching Apprenticeship, and we hope to attract 4-6 permaculture pioneers with Jay as program mentor.

Click Here if you would like to listed to an Audo Recorded Camp Greeting from Wolf Camp founder and coordinator Chris Chisholm for which you may need the free RealOne Player if it's not already installed in your system.

Application Process

This internship program requires a lengthy application process to ensure that this is the right choice for you, and that you are the right choice for us. To apply, first call Chris Chisholm at 360-799-1997 or email us with questions.

Your application should contain:

• Completed and signed registration form.
• 3 year driving record with a copy of your current driver's license.
• Police background check
• Copies of all past relevant certifications you have received, particularly in Wilderness Medicine and water-related rescue training. If you do not have a recent 24 class-hour or longer Wilderness First Aid training, then you will need to show that you have registered for such an upcoming course (regular first aid is not sufficient).
• Your most recent educational transcripts. If you do not have a high school diploma, then you will need to schedule a date for taking the GED exam.
• A cover letter detailing your passion as an outdoor educator or earth skills specialist, and your intention to complete this apprenticeship opportunity.
• A description of any training, skills or experience you have in teaching, coordinating and guiding outdoor educational activities.
• A description of any previous environmental education you have received, including academic work, mentoring during your childhood, personal dirt time, and trainings at other earth skills schools.
• A letter of recommendation from a recent employer, and a letter of recommendation from a recent teacher.
• $1,500 deposit, which will be refunded (only) if your application is not accepted and you do not wish to attend any of the scheduled training courses.
• Your balance will be due on June 15th. Please request an exact price quote from Chris on what your costs will total, and after your application is accepted, he will include that on your apprenticeship contract. If at any time you decide against completing the apprenticeship after applying, you will receive a full credit (not a refund) toward the cost of any Wolf Camp programs you wish to attend in the coming year for which you meet the prerequisites. In addition, like all students being required to follow our behavioral agreements, our policy is that if Chris asks you to leave Wolf Camp for breaking the agreements and not being able to prove that you won't break them again, you will receive no refund or credit for any payments you have made. Please ask Chris to clarify this policy if you need a better sense of its context. Thanks!
• After being accepted, you will need to review our web site to understand Wolf Camp offerings and its full schedule, plus read the Wolf Journey Handbook for Students & Teachers which we will send you before arriving.

Word to the Wise: All those who have kept their applications concise and focused have been successful at Wolf Camp, without exception. Those who wrote rambling essays or thought we weren't completely serious about our drug policy, for instance, are no longer with us. Suggestions for your biography include any previous training, skills or experience in organic farming, forestry, appropriate technologies, or permaculture internship courses a list of any of such skills you know and your level of study with them, and a description of your method of continuing education in these skills.

Potential for paid work will depend on the amount of camp and farm business, your progress on improving your earth skills, the number of programs for which you assisted in the past, your previous education and work experience, and your future interests. Remember, this is a program designed for people who really want to learn earth skills in depth. Beyond the training period, you will be learning the skills somewhat according to our even schedule, but mostly on pace with your own will forces. Ultimately, it is up to you to practice during the off-season to become accomplished in these earth skills. During the summer, the needs of our youth campers will be our focus. If you simply want to learn the skills without the "distraction" of children at camp in the summer, we encourage you to attend our training period and then live elsewhere during the summer, coming back in the off season if you like.

Responsibilities at Camp

The most important behavioral expectations while enrolled in the internship programs include: pouring your greatest effort into learning these earth skills; following the guidelines described in the hold harmless section of the application form; maintaining professional hygiene (including appearance and smell of body, hair and clothes) and behavior (including the very same agreements which youth campers must uphold during camps and contracts guaranteeing the physical and emotional safety of all participants - see youth camp pages to read these agreements - obvious exceptions include provisions for married persons, for example) throughout the summer youth camp season; remaining free of drugs (including alcohol, tobacco, and illicits); never harboring any illegal items, people or behavior on or in the vicinity of Wolf Camp; never having participated in child abuse or workplace sexual misconduct, nor having any impulse to do so; not unfairly discriminating against anyone based on color, ethnicity, origin, sex, sexual orientation, religious preference, or handicap; and performing in a professional, safe manner to help make Wolf Camp the most excellent outdoor educational program possible.

Living on campus also means sharing responsibility for maintenance of all common facilities as well as your own shelter space (usually tent under tarp in the summer, or in a yurt or cabin in the fall-spring) just like if you were renting a house elsewhere and needing to spend time cleaning, etc. However, it is much more efficient to live in a community like this where you are taking turns cooking, cleaning, recycling, shopping, organizing supplies, caretaking farm animals, etc., etc., rather than having to do all that on your own, and thereby leaving more time for your studies. Blog entries, making foods from scratch, maintenance checks and first aid drills can also take up some time, and they are important aspects of your learning program. However, many community living projects are counted toward work-trade depending on your prior skill level, such as gardening, mechanical repairs, seasonal grounds maintenance, building improvements, etc., as prioritized by your program facilitator.

I’m looking forward to receiving your application, and helping us celebrate our wonderful, new camp location on Woods Lake. It’s gorgeous, full of big trout, surrounded by lush forests, and backed up against state land and vast wilderness. We’re just 30 minutes from Puget Sound in one direction, and the Cascade Mountains in the other. We’re also just 90 minutes from sagebrush country. How could it get any better? With you joining us! There is so much to gain and to give with this program - I'm looking forward to sharing a wonderful time together.

Until then! - Chris

Employment: We only need instructors with experience running camps and teaching in the field of Earth Skills, including Permaculture, Tracking, Primitive Artisanry, Advanced Herbalism, or Wilderness EMT training with real outdoor survival practice. If you would like experience as a teacher and learn skills of the Naturalist, Tracker, Herbalist, Scout, Hunter, Artisan, or Permaculture Pioneer, apply to become an instructor through our Earth Skills Teaching Apprenticeship.

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