Thread: Trump threatens to pull federal funds for Calif. wildfires over forest 'mismanagement

Trump threatens to pull federal funds for Calif. wildfires over forest 'mismanagement'

Doug Stanglin, USA TODAY
Published 9:01 a.m. ET Nov. 10, 2018
Updated 12:33 p.m. ET Nov. 10, 2018

With major wildfires still roaring out of control in California, President Donald Trump took to Twitter on Saturday to blame "gross mismanagement of the forest" for the catastrophe and threatened to withhold federal funds if the issue is not remedied.

It was his first tweet on the wildfires, now among the deadliest and most destructive in California history, although he earlier issued an emergency declaration providing federal funds for Butte, Ventura and Los Angeles counties.

At least nine people have been killed and the entire town of Paradise, in northern California has been destroyed.

"There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor," Trump tweeted. "Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more Fed payments!"

His latest remarks were reminiscent of his tweets during another major outbreak of fires in California in August, when he blamed the wildfires on "bad environmental laws" and his claim that water from the north was "foolishly being diverted into the Pacific Ocean."

In that tweet burst, Trump also said California wildfires "are being magnified & made so much worse by the bad environmental laws which aren’t allowing massive amount of readily available water to be properly utilized."

At the time, The New York times noted a debate over the allocation of water for irrigation or fish habitat but none regarding water purportedly being diverted into the ocean.

The Times quoted Cal Fire officials as saying there is no shortage of water for fighting fires. Helicopters collect water from lakes and ponds to douse wildfires and have plenty at hand, they said.

Asked about that the president's tweeted claim of water diversion, a spokesman for Gov. Jerry Brown, Evan Westrup, told the Times in an email, “Your guess is as good as mine.”

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...ts/1956148002/

Finally, a President with the guts to say enough already! Most of these wildfires are not natural events as so many claim. I've been on this earth a long time and what we've seen in recent years is appalling compared to the past. These fires are set or the result of man's negligence. Much tighter rules, much greater investigation, much more resources allocated for first hit strikes to kill that fire. What's been happening in California the past 10 years or so has no excuse and needs a resolution.

Check out the power companies. Something isn't right. The whole country has power companies, the whole country has dry seasons and most of the country has high winds and often all at the same time, so what's happening in California is an anomaly that must be solved and fast. Great for the President to lay it on the line to bring awareness that this must be solved.

Thank you President Donald J Trump, thank you very very much, I hope this problem and the causes of these fires and the inability to control them quickly can be resolved soon.

No Fed payments.

And why should our firefighters in other states go to California and risk their lives and bear the added costs to put their fires out!

They do not help the REST of the country with their sanctuary city laws and deport illegal aliens. This has a direct impact on the rest of the States.

Why should ANY state help them? They should not!

Jerry Brown has spent BILLONS on illegal aliens, has disregarded our Federal Immigration and Visa Laws but now wants our Federal Tax Dollars...hell no!

You cannot pick and choose what Federal laws to you do not like and then BEG for Federal money.

If Federal tax dollars go to Medicaid, welfare and food stamps to sanctuary states then cut that money off too! Those illegal aliens should NOT be benefiting from our Federal Tax dollars!

DEEM ALL DRIVER'S LICENSES ISSUED TO ILLEGAL ALIENS NULL & VOID!

GET THEM OFF OUR VOTER ROLLS.

Sierra Club and the tree hugger nuts are directly to blame for the destruction of California environmental disasters.

When there was drought...Jerry Brown did nothing to repair the reservoirs when they were practically empty. I saw the Shasta reservoir and went way back in the back roads where the water was gone. It was unbelievable. I saw it when it was completely full. Wait for the dams to burst, destroy homes then put a band-aid on the problem. Did nothing to build new reservoirs.

They have not cleared the brush or done the controlled burns.

Save the environment my behind...now the homes are burnt to the ground and the wildlife dead and burnt out of their habitats.

Thousands of people displaced due to California failed policies and mismanagement of funds!

Pay for illegal aliens, give THEM everything free and put your citizens in blue tarp villages living in squalor.

There is no affordable housing but it is ok for the DemonRats to allow illegals to stuff 20 people into one home and destroy neighborhoods and live off welfare and food stamps and send their money back over the border.

Give the druggies needles and let them defecate in the streets!

Now they have Typhus, hepatitis, filthy streets, crime and rampant homelessness.

This new Governor will be the nail in the coffin for the state.

Yep, and this new US House of Representatives is going to be the nail in the coffin of our country.