SACRAMENTO, CA -- President Donald Trump threatened again Wednesday to cut off FEMA wildfire relief to California because of its “disgraceful” mismanagement of the state’s forests.
It wasn’t the first time Trump has threatened to withhold funding from California over forest management issues, blaming the state for a disastrous string of wildfires the past two years. The latest statement from the president came a day after California Gov. Gavin Newsom praised him for his quick response to the Camp Fire catastrophe.
In an early-morning tweet, Trump scolded California’s forest management and added, “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 replied on Twitter: “Disasters and recovery are no time for politics. I’m already taking action to modernize and manage our forests and emergency responses. The people of CA — folks in Paradise — should not be victims to partisan bickering.”
Trump’s tweet ignores the fact that 60 percent of California’s forests are on land owned by the federal government, mainly the National Forest Service and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. The Camp Fire — which killed 86 people, more than any other in the state’s history — appears to have started in the Plumas National Forest.
FEMA has disbursed tens of millions of dollars to Camp Fire survivors and has been working with state officials on plans to remove debris from Paradise, which was virtually destroyed by the fire.
Trump’s administration has said California’s wildfires are evidence that forests must be managed more aggressively, through “thinning” and prescribed burns to reduce fuel loads.
California officials generally agree; the Legislature last fall earmarked $1 billion over five years for forest management, while Newsom on Tuesday called on lawmakers to put an additional $105 million into the budget for firefighting efforts.
Speaking at a Cal Fire station in Colfax, near the Tahoe National Forest, Newsom on Tuesday chided Trump’s administration for cutting forestry budgets by $2 billion, but he also pledged to cooperate with the White House on fire-safety issues.
“He’s never played politics with disaster declarations and we’re grateful for that,” Newsom said.
Harold Schaitberger, General President of the International Association of Fire Fighters, was stern in his rebuke of President Trump's threat in a statement released by the IAFF.
“This is yet another unimaginable attack on the dedicated professionals who put everything on the line, including their own homes, to protect their neighborhoods,” Schaitberger said. “While our president is tweeting on the sidelines in DC, our fellow Americans 3,000 miles to the west are mourning loved ones, entire communities have been wiped off the map and thousands of people are still trying to figure out where they are going to call home.”
California Professional Firefighters President Brian Rice echoed Schaitberger.
“The president’s tweet is disgraceful at a time when the government is under a self-imposed shutdown and the citizens of Paradise haven’t even been at their home sites in 30 days,” Rice said. “This important funding would go toward literally helping this city rise from the ashes. To withhold it in a game of politics is insulting to the people of Paradise.”
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