Upcoming classes & workshops
Want to carve your own spoon by hand and don’t know how to get started? Interested in learning survival skills for your next camp-out? Participate in upcoming classes and events in Washington.
Private / Custom Events
Design a themed class or workshop for your business, family, or friend group. Coordinate a date that fits your groups needs. Subjects include Wilderness Survival, Woodworking, Animal Tracking, and more!
Handcrafted items
Browse handmade items from Firecraft Northwest, including carved wooden kitchenware, sharpening supplies and strops, greenwood billets for projects, friction fire materials, flint knapping tools, and flint and steel kits.
Firecraft is the art and process of building fire. An essential tool for human survival, the use of fire was critical in early human history since the Lower Paleolithic and is still important today.
Firecraft Northwest is an Outdoor Education Operation dedicated to helping others learn and connect with nature through theme-based workshops, custom programs, and handmade crafting. Classes are geared toward students who love spending their days outdoors and wish to build a deeper understanding of the natural world. We’ll also add new outdoor skills to our repertoire while we’re at it.
This site features handmade crafts to support this mission, as well as an upcoming events calendar so you can participate! I hope to see you there.
Nature Connection
Build awareness in the outdoors by learning to track animals, identify birds and plants, and study ecology.
Survival Skills
Develop skills you can use in a survival situation such as fire, shelter, water purification, identifying essential plants and more.
Bushcraft
Learn to build tools and harvest materials from the landscape to coexist with nature and practice sustainability
Ryan Johnson
Born in New York and raised in the desert southwest of Arizona, Ryan has been fascinated by science and biology since early childhood. Prowling the wildlife mountain preserves and parks of his hometown were just the beginning of a lifelong dedication to learning everything he could about the natural world.
His passions include woodworking and crafting, birding, shelter building, fire building, outdoor cooking, and teaching. His journey into Outdoor Education began years ago volunteering as a Naturalist at Oxbow Regional Park. This experience fueled the inspiration to pursue a career in the outdoors. Ryan is an expert in outdoor skills and a Pacific Northwest Naturalist and Wildlife Tracker.
Certifications & Experience
Track & Sign III - Tracker Certification North America
Wilderness First Responder - Remote Medical Training
PNW “Nature University” Naturalist training program - Oregon Metro Parks and Recreation
Bachelors Degree - Biochemistry - Arizona State University 2013
Bachelors Degree - Psychology - Arizona State University 2009
Shining Star School Nature Immersion Leader - 2017-2018
Trackers Earth Outdoor Educator, Program Coordinator, and Program Director - 2017-2021
Volunteer Naturalist: Oxbow Regional Park Oregon - 2017-2019
Oregon Metro Adult Survival Class Guest Instructor & Naturalist 2018-2019
Bell Creek Nature School Teacher for Adults and Kids - 2020 - Present
Skills Instructor at the Chuckanut Center in Bellingham - 2021-Present
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Hunter’s Safety Training Certified
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife State Trapper Training Certified
Tuition & Scholarship
Please contact Ryan directly if you have challenges in paying tuition for events and workshops, or would like to request financial assistance.