Located just outside of town off the Ben Howard Road, Alderleaf Wilderness College in Monroe is a living treasure. Built on a permaculture methodology in which all the different site elements work together in harmony, the 15-acre wilderness retreat is a lesson in sustainability.
Co-founded in 2008 by Jason Knight, Alderleaf curriculum includes wilderness survival, outdoor education, permaculture, sustainable living skills, the study of edible and medicinal wild plants and wildlife tracking. Knight, a wildlife biologist and survival skills expert, serves as both the director and an instructor.
The property, which borders the foothills of the Cascade Mountains, features its own creek, waterfall, swimming hole, outdoor classrooms and more. The Alderleaf campus, explained Knight, is the perfect training ground.
"The wilderness is our backyard,GÇ¥ Knight said.
Alderleaf features day classes on subjects like overnight survival, wild mushroom identification, fire making and many others. Week-long courses are available on permaculture design and wilderness skills, and comprehensive survival skills are taught during an in-depth nine-month wilderness survival course. They can also custom build a curriculum, tailoring it based on student specifications.
During the summer, they offer a wilderness skills camp for kids.
"My children, ages five and eight, attended Alderleaf Youth Camp this summer. This was my daughter's second year. Both came home exhausted and exhilarated,GÇ¥ said Sultan resident Elizabeth Emmons. "The staff has a genuine love and enthusiasm for the great outdoors and they do an excellent job of transferring that to the children. I am grateful for their experience and look forward to taking one of their adult classes myself someday.GÇ¥
The nine-month Alderleaf Wilderness Certification Program is Alderleaf's signature course. Students enrolled in the course learn the basics of surviving in the wilderness, including shelter-building, how to identify edible and medicinal plants, water purification, wildlife tracking and much more. One of the first skills they must master is creating friction fire, which is taught during the first week of class.
"One of the most important survival skills is fire,GÇ¥ Knight said. "In your list of priorities, the most important thing is maintaining a body temperature of 98.6, which means building a shelter that can keep you warm.GÇ¥
The second priority is staying hydrated, which means obtaining clean, drinkable water.
"Often times, to have an effective shelter, or to have clean water, you need a fire first,GÇ¥ Knight said.
Initially, students are taught to create fire using a bow drill kit. Each component of the kit has a distinct purpose, and when used together, the kit quickly creates a small pile of dust. As friction causes the dust to heat up to 800 degrees, it spontaneously ignites into a coal, which is then placed into a tinder-bundle made up of dry materials like moss and shredded bark.
The fire-maker then breathes onto the tinder bundle, to further coax the flames.
"Throughout the year they learn how to do it with less and less equipment,GÇ¥ Knight said. "They get to the point where they can make it from a stone tool GÇô they don't even need a knife to make this kit.GÇ¥
Truly situated in a wilderness area, Knight has witnessed two different mountain lions, a black bear, a bobcat, coyote, deer, river otter, mink, raccoons and mountain beaver, all of which consider the area to be home. He teaches ways to peacefully coexist with wildlife, and uses a hands-on approach to demonstrate that everything in the forest can fulfill a distinct purpose.
Oregon grapes can be used as food, cedar can be used to make a bow drill kit, fern fronds can be transformed into shelter insulation or mattress materials, and fern roots can be used as a survival food.
"Everything becomes your ally in the forest, so you almost feel more at home in the woods,GÇ¥ Knight said. "It's really great to have that relationship with the outdoors. The skills we teach are very practical but they're also transformational in that it changes the way you feel out in the woods.GÇ¥
While Alderleaf's back 10 acres are primarily dedicated to outdoor classroom areas, Alderleaf's front five acres feature a vegetable garden, sheep, a chicken moat, bamboo garden, food forest, root cellar and berry patch.
The beds in Alderleaf's vegetable garden were creating using a permaculture technique known as H++gelkultur, in which raised garden beds are constructed out of woodsy, organic materials. H++gelkultur beds begin with a shallow trench, which is then filled in with materials such as logs, sticks, stumps, grass clippings and anything compostable. Over time, as the woody debris decomposes, it creates an ideal planting environment, packed with moisture and nutrients.
And the technique seems to be working. Despite the fact that Alderleaf's well hasn't been producing enough water to water the beds regularly, the garden has continued to produce zucchini, kale, onions, carrots, potatoes and chard.
"We haven't watered these garden beds for like two months,GÇ¥ Knight said. "It's the H++gelkultur style GÇô it holds that moisture in and it's helped our garden continue to grow and produce.GÇ¥
The principles of permaculture are seen throughout the retreat. By teaching his chickens to eat slugs, Knight has facilitated a natural way to deal with a destructive garden pest that doesn't involve the use of chemicals. Another great way to mitigate a slug problem, explained Knight, is by creating snake habitat out of piles of large rocks.
"Snakes will eat slugs,GÇ¥ Knight said. "I've actually caught them in the act and taken a picture.GÇ¥
The dual four-foot fence and chicken moat creates a natural barrier to deer, which don't have the ability to navigate two fences placed so closely together.
"The chickens patrol the edge and then eat a lot of the bugs, and we've taught them to go after slugs,GÇ¥ Knight said. "So they reduce our pests in the garden which is really great.GÇ¥
Alderleaf offers several different permaculture courses, including a basic home-scale permaculture course that takes place over a weekend. They also have a three-week permaculture course during which students become certified in permaculture design.
Graduates of the nine-month wilderness certification program go on to be teachers, wildlife field technicians, forest service rangers and professional wildlife trackers. Alderleaf has an impressive reputation for turning out expert level wildlife trackers, who go on to work on wildlife tracking projects around the nation.
"We've had about 250 people come through our nine-month course over the last seven years, and we also see about 300 people a year in our other classes,GÇ¥ Knight said.
For more information about attending classes at Alderleaf, please visit the website at: http://www.wildernesscollege.com/.
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