The main island was an old abandoned homesite used during the middle and late 1800's, when river traffic was the main means of transportation in British Columbia. A hundred years later practically all that was left of the original homestead was an old hay rake, found on the edge of a large open meadow beside the river bank.

Access to the property is either by water or trail, but the easiest route is by canoe, travelling downstream through a small set of rapids to the islands. Here, on the main island, the Nielsens built a very private recreational retreat, and Rudy passed to his sons what he had learned from his father, a trapper, including canoeing, fishing, hiking, and about nature and basic wilderness survival.

Wildlife along this stretch of the Fraser was plentiful then, as it still is today, and the Nielsens enjoyed frequent visits from moose,deer, wolves, coyotes, and even the occasional black bear. Smaller mammals, such as otter, beaver, martin and mink are numerous in this area, and there are also many species of birds, including eagles and hawks, which hunt along the river banks.

Over the next several years, NIHO's inventory grew from 30 properties to over 300. Only a few properties were sold along the way, and it wasn't until 1992 that large numbers of holdings were marketed at one time.

Today, NIHO is one of the largest private owners of recreational land in the province of B.C., selling 30-100 properties per year, and is recognized as an industry expert in recreational lands, property valuations and market trends in B.C.

NIHO owns and utilizes a huge in-house system for defining and valuating rural property, www.landcor.com. Landcor updates all sales in B.C. on a weekly basis. This unique system includes sophisticated computerized databanks of information on recreational lands, aerial photography and analysis, mapping information, and analysis tools. This system enables speedy compilation of property data and constant tracking of the changing market trends.

NIHO looks for the highest and best use of properties for added value, which could include include timber value, gravel deposits, peat moss, or subdivision potential. NIHO has purchased, developed, and sold well over 700 acreages and projects over a 10 year period.

NIHO also specializes in purchasing small vacant towns, developing them, and then marketing them through our aggressive marketing campaigns and through exposure on our website, www.niho.com. In the past 10 years, NIHO has sold all of its RV lots in some of these old ghost towns: Ferguson, Sheep Creek, and Nashville. NIHO has also developed and marketed subdivisions at Cluculz Lake Estates, Fort St. John, and the Thompson River Estates. NIHO is developing at the present 795 acres at Pitt Lake and two separate 160 acre subdivisions of prime oceanfront in the Queen Charlotte Islands.