Usoff Tsao, Thompson-Nicola Regional District Area A Director

09/08/2026

What if the life you've been chasing is waiting for you in Clearwat...

09/08/2026

Reminder back to school tomorrow and that means kids on the road and school buses. Please slow down watch for the kids and obey the school bus flashing lights and stop signs and arms. Student safety is paramount

09/08/2026

09/07/2026

The Vavenby fire lookout. Many of these lookouts still survive the test of time and weather across BC. A lot of them are on a to-visit list of off road vehicle owners and bring them to our rural areas.

I am very thankful to Rosa, an American traveller and social media content creator, for spending her time and effort restoring the lookout! So much of our local histories rests upon each of us to keep alive.

09/07/2026

Well said Mr Haughton, happy Labour Day

09/04/2026

With fire activity significantly diminished compared to recent weeks, we want to take a moment and recognize fire crews who have responded bravely and tirelessly all summer.

Many TNRD Fire Departments have been actively deployed throughout the summer to support wildfire response efforts, while also continuing to provide fire protection service within their own communities:

- Blackpool Fire Rescue / Little Fort Fire Department: Members deployed with a water tender and structure protection unit trailer to the Clinton area during the Pear Lake wildfire.

-Loon Lake Fire Department: Members deployed with a water tender to the Pear Lake fire, the Bald Ranch fire near Summerland, the Saw Creek fire near Lytton, to the Brunswick and Ainslie Creek wildfires in Boston Bar, and to the Bowers Lake wildfire near Deka Lake. Firefighters also regularly patrolled the Loon Lake area to ensure people's homes were safe during the Evacuation Order.

-South Green Lake Volunteer Fire Department: Members assisted the BC Wildfire Service with initial attack on the Tin Cup Lake Fire with a fire engine and structure protection unit. Similarly to Loon Lake Fire Department, members from South Green Lake also worked to protect their community while an Evacuation Order was in place.

- Pritchard Fire Department: Deployed their structure protection unit trailer to the Pear Lake fire.

- Vavenby Fire Department: Members deployed with a water tender to the Pear Lake fire and to the Saw Creek fire near Lytton. At the request of BC Wildfire Service, fire department members also staffed an initial attack standby crew on three occasions to respond within their local service area in the North Thompson.

We also want to thank BC Wildfire Service crews for their tireless work for weeks on end, fire departments near and far that were deployed to protect homes in our rural areas, and local residents who cooperated with fire crews and worked to save their homes during an extremely stressful time this summer.

Please stay safe this long weekend!

09/04/2026

Good morning from Little Fort ferry.

Nice reminder we are in a beautiful interior rainforest thanks to the rain (lol I feel like someone more knowledgeable is going to correct me with terminology)

we know MOTT and Argo are designing a winch system to make the Little Fort and McLure ferry more operator friendly. If I may further theorize that because you don't invest in something that you're going to remove in the future, they recognize our area is a growing area not communities that are fading away.

Then I think about well how do they know that it's a growing area and the government invest back more taxpayer dollars? What do I do at a business? I look for facts and statistics before investing in capital equipment. What's facts and stats for government? CENSUS SURVEY. I get pretty annoyed at the resistance in filling out a form that allows me to go to other orders of government and say LOOK rural communities are not down and out with the forestry industry doom and gloom, we are growing and we need more resources.

09/03/2026

Good Afternoon Everyone as of noon today Kamloops Fire Center has rescinded the Category 1 Fires. Campfires are permitted now. Please make sure to follow all guidelines for your campfire safety. Thank you

09/03/2026

Good morning, I have officially submitted my nomination package for the role of Thompson Nicola Regional District Wells Gray Country Electoral Area A director 2026-2030.

Thank you residents for sharing your knowledge, advice, and love of Wells Gray Country for the last four years. If you would have me as your representative at the TNRD board of directors, I would like to continue seeing through community projects and collaboration with other members of our regional district, as well as advocate to other orders of government and stakeholders.

Major changes are potentially coming to the North Thompson on Simpcw First Nation territory and I will continue to keep you as informed as I can transparently through emails, phone calls or in person meetings.

Thank you to Mr Ron Lampreau who undertook this four year journey with me as my alternate director, and I want to thank my predecessor Ms Carol Schaffer who has been gracious in knowledge sharing and also for accepting my request to be my alternate director for the next term, if I am re-elected.