Just 7 Months Before Fires, Gavin Newsom Cut $101 Million in Forest Wildfire Funding
California Gov. Gavin Newsom cut spending on wildfire and forest resilience by $101 million seven months before fires began to rage around Los Angeles, according to a new report.
And his director of communications wasn’t happy to see the information published.
Newsom has come under fire from President-elect Donald Trump for his handling of the disaster.
“One of the best and most beautiful parts of the United States of America is burning down to the ground. It’s ashes, and Gavin Newscum should resign. This is all his fault!!!” Trump posted on Truth Social.
In another Truth Social post, Trump slammed Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass as well as President Joe Biden’s Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“Gross incompetence by Gavin Newscum and Karen Bass….And Biden’s FEMA has no money — all wasted on the Green New Scam! L.A. is a total wipeout!!!”
Helicopters fight flames as the Palisades fire engulfs Santa Monica Mountains, destroying 10,000 structures, displacing thousands, and spreading over an area larger than San Francisco. https://t.co/B9wncfsUow pic.twitter.com/ND6tqpI1cy
— Sky News (@SkyNews) January 11, 2025
A new report from Newsweek, citing information from the state’s Legislative Analyst’s Office, has revealed that Newsom cut various wildfire programs in the current California budget for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, known as Cal Fire.
Among the cuts Newsweek reported in the budget Newsom signed in June:
Newsom took $5 million away from the department’s vegetation control performed by the California National Guard.
Agencies that promote wildfire resilience lost $28 million in the budget line that funds their efforts.
A program to encourage good forest management practices was cut by $4 million.
A satellite image shows the Eaton wildfire around nearly every building in western Altadena on fire pic.twitter.com/CcLb0Q2G7I
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) January 9, 2025
A pilot project to make homes more resilient to wildfires took a $12 million cut.
Funds to monitor fires and promote research were sliced by $8 million, Newsweek reported.
Newsom also cut funds for an interagency data hub for forest management by $3 million.
However, the Newsweek report said that Cal Fire spending had risen from $1.1 billion in 2014 to $3 billion in 2023.
One of the victims of the LA wildfires had gone back to his home that was completely burn and the only thing that survived was the Holy Bible 😮 pic.twitter.com/MxrAxSbr6I
— ʀɪᴄʜɪᴇ (@RichieRichR7) January 10, 2025
Izzy Gardon, Newsom’s director of communications, defended the governor, according to Fox News. Gardon called reporting on the cuts a “ridiculous lie.”
“The governor has doubled the size of our firefighting army, built the world’s largest aerial firefighting fleet and the state has increased the forest management ten-fold since he took office,” Gardon said.
“Facts matter,” Gardon said.
However, according to Fox, Gardon’s “office attached statistics that refer to the overall increase in spending and personnel over a number of years since he took office in 2019, as opposed to commenting on the most recent cuts.”
Newsom, who was re-elected in 2022, is term-limited to leave office in 2027.
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