Cl 0 < CASTLEGAR NEWS, Thursday, April 12, 1979 mm = People & Places / Kootenays’ SALMO nid DONNA DARYCHUK .. . horsing around LEONA DIMOCK «+. quiet moment <= ea RANDY BAKKEN ++. neatcatch MARK KNUTSON — “CHRIS STRIEGLER +». going fishing Attention: Amateur Photographers ... Introduce your neighborhood to the community. We supply 35 mm film and financial bonus! For detalls, Trall area phone 368-9800, Nelson area phone 352-9900, Castlegar and all other ervas phone 365-3517 (from 9 a.m. to 4p.m.). A Nelson building con- Bruce Martin, an- ment of a new company; Ventures Design Ltd. According to Martin, Ven- tures has been created spe- cifically to design and construct solar homes in the Kootenays. ‘The houses will be constructed and then offered for sale. Ventures has retained Eric Clough, award-winning envi- ronmental designer, to develop * various prototype designs es- pecially suited for the focal climatic conditions, Martin stated that Clough has been doing extensive research and has received intensive training from a program offered by the University of Colorado and has recently returned from further training by Passive Solar Asso- clates, Santa Fe, New Mexico. Martin says that conatruc- tion of the first house, “Solar I", is scheduled to start April 15 at - 124 Douglas Road in Nelson. “Solar II" is currently in the design stages and will be constructed later this year. Buffalo Herd Settled In. At Gang Ranch Alsager Holdings Ltd., a family-owned operation, who purchased British Columbia's one million-acre Gang Ranch in October 1978, announced re- cently the arrival of a founda- tion herd of buffalo at “The Gang Headquarters" located approximately 50 miles west of Clinton, B.C. The arrival of the buffalo represents the end product of considerable work and re- search. “Each animal has been blood-tested for several di- seases and carefully selected for its suitability to our opera- tion,” comments Dale B. Alsa- ger, company president. “Our buffalo are complete: ly fence conditioned and accus- tomed to domestic stock hand- ling practices, They will be maintained in confinement, un- der close supervision at The Gang Headquarters, and will form the nucleus of a breeding herd.” Buffalo are not a new venture to the Alsagers, but represent an expansion phase of a successful experiment in the econoinics of ranching buf- falo. After two years of success- ful study and evaluation on the Alsager’ 's Idanell Korner Ranch Erie Clough explained that to produce up to 60 per cent of although this area might be’ the heating needs through solar considered by some to be contribution and. still retain marginal for solar housing, it is - favorable cost efficiency. quite feasible, With a good site: Clough will be conductinga and careful design, it is possible in Sask buffalo were found to be economically more padres ‘ 1 A KUSS, who started Tost ¢ October with Adastra “Aviation flying charter flights, Is now one of the company's her private pilot's licence in Experimentation with buf- February of last year ond her commercial pilot's licence the ig August. On March 13 of this year she qualified for falo has been coupled with an analysis of market potential. “We have her instructor's ticket. Kuss, who believes in working from the bottom up, can be seen fueling planes and attending She would like to be a’ bush pilot one day. a very attractive market for buffalo meat in specialty restaurants, clubs and other food outlets in Western Canada and the United States,” comments Alsager. “Buffalo meat is similar to beef in taste, is slightly finer grained, but is significantly lower in fat and cholesterol content compared to beef. “Buffalo meat sells for approximately 70 per cent higher than beef on the hoof and certain restauranteurs in + the United States are paying as high as $9 per pound wholesale for choice cuts. Added to this, the fact that they are more economical to raise and reduce chances of over-grazing range, the ranching of buffalo as an agricultural product is indeed sound.” There is a significant po- tential for spin-off industry related to buffalo by-products such as hides and heads. These products are excellent in the manufacture of clothing, wall- hangings, taxidermy mounts and other handicrafts, ee" Spring ‘Special Topsoil © Gravel Sand @ etc. Also, Basement Excavations WE ’ DELIVER 365-5519 OR 226-7272 —- New/MirrorFoto by Lois Hughes full-day workshop on solar. Open House Featured During Construction Construction First Solar Home Set to Go Pia on May 26 at the National Exhibition Centre in Castlegar. open house days to explain the design principles to anyone who is interested In learning about Martin: said. that .during space heating with,solar ener- construction of Solar I, Ven- gy. Dates will be announced tures Design Ltd. will feature, . later. VENTURES SOLAR I BRIic