Future plans for W.A. Ranches to be shared at open house

In September 2018, the university announced a transformational gift from the Anderson-Chisolm family of their 19,000-acre cattle ranch operation, W.A. Ranches, to create a world-class, interdisciplinary teaching, learning and research facility that will help to establish UCalgary as an international leader in veterinary health, education, research, and community outreach.

Since that announcement, work has been underway behind the scenes to engage with faculty and community stakeholders to identify ways to use W.A. Ranches in both the near and long-term future. UCalgary is committed to operating W.A. Ranches as a working cow-calf ranch and maintaining or improving the quality of the ranch while also conducting transdisciplinary research with multiple faculties using a One Health integrative approach. The university will serve the needs of the cattle industry through research and teaching in animal health and welfare, provide opportunities for youth education and community outreach, support entrepreneurship, innovation and implementation of new technologies on the ranch.

To support this work, the university has identified short-, medium- and long-term priorities and is proactively developing a long-range development plan (LRDP) that will identify UCalgary’s plans for land use and development of facilities to support ranch operations and teaching and research activities.

The campus community is invited to drop in to an informational open house on March 2 to view the draft plans, ask questions, and provide feedback

• What: W.A. Ranches LRDP Open House
• When: March 2 from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m.
• Where: Frank Wills Memorial Hall, 405 1st St. E., Cochrane

Those who are interested but unable to attend the open house will be able to review the draft plans and provide feedback online. An online survey will be available from March 2 to 13. Questions can be emailed to campusforward@ucalgary.ca. 

In 2018, J.C. (Jack) Anderson and Wynne Chisholm gifted the University of Calgary their family ranch near Cochrane complete with cattle, farming and ranch equipment, as well as buildings including staff housing. Led by the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, W.A. Ranches at UCalgary will become a centre of excellence for beef cattle research and a facility for interdisciplinary research, teaching and learning, community engagement and outreach, including continued support of the Anderson-Chisolm Chair in Animal Care and Welfare, Alberta 4-H and other programs that support youth in agriculture. Find more information about W.A. Ranches at UCalgary.

This gift is part of Energize: The Campaign for Eyes High, UCalgary’s $1.3-billion fundraising campaign. Fueled by the generosity of UCalgary’s friends and supporters, we are igniting discovery, creativity and innovation to make lasting positive change at the University of Calgary, in our city and beyond.

Publicly launched in April 2016, the campaign will officially end June 30, 2020. 

ucalgary.ca/campaign