Trump threatens to cut off wildfire funds
Calif. leader chides feds over forest management
President Donald Trump said Sunday that he wants to cut off federal funds to fight wildfires raging across California, tweeting that Gov. Gavin Newsom should “get his act together” and properly manage the state’s forests.
Trump, in a series of tweets, lauded the efforts of firefighters but accused Newsom of catering to environmentalists instead of focusing on fire deterrence. He said he previously warned Newsom that the state must “clean” forest floors of incendiary debris.
“Every year, as the fire’s rage & California burns, it is the same thing-and then he comes to the Federal Government for $$$ help,” Trump said. “No more. Get your act together Governor.
You don’t see close to the level of burn in other states.”
Newsom responded on Twitter that, because Trump does not believe in climate change, he is “excused from this conversation.”
The federal government owns more than half of California’s forest land while most of the rest is privately owned. The state owns about 3%. Newsom issued a statement saying the U.S. Forest Service has twice this year reduced its forest management targets on its land in the state. Trump’s 2020 budget calls for more cuts in the hazardous fuels reduction account, Newsom said.
Last month, the governor signed a series of bills aimed at improving California’s wildfire prevention, mitigation and response efforts.
“We’re successfully waging war against thousands of fires started across the state in the last few weeks due to extreme weather created by climate change,” Newsom said, “while Trump is conducting a full-on assault against the antidotes.”
Trump has threatened to cut off firefighting funds before. In January, he tweeted that “billions of dollars are sent to the State of California for Forest fires that, with proper Forest Management, would never happen. Unless they get their act together, which is unlikely, I have ordered FEMA to send no more money. It is a disgraceful situation in lives & money!”
Newsom responded then that he was working to modernize forest management, adding that “disasters and recovery are no time for politics.”
The latest social media storm came as state officials reported that a fire burning through 15 square miles of farmland outside Los Angeles was 50% contained Sunday but still threatened 2,500 homes and buildings, authorities said.
All evacuations orders were lifted, the Cal Fires San Luis Obispo unit said.
The Maria Fire began burning Thursday, minutes after a transmission line in the area had been returned to service, Southern California Edison reported. The cause of the fire, however, remained under investigation Sunday.
“Firefighters continued to patrol the fire perimeter, extinguishing any hot spots,” Cal Fire said.