Fields also said that "there has been no bigger advocate for restoring California to its natural beauty than President Trump, which is why he made it a point to visit the region in his first week in office and he’s continuing to put tremendous pressure on state and local government to reduce the barriers in restoring the area.”.
President Donald Trump's administration is holding up money for wildfire mitigation projects funded through legislation championed by his Democratic predecessor, threatening efforts to prevent catastrophic blazes like the ones that recently ripped through Southern California.
Lomakatsi Restoration Project, a forest management nonprofit that develops and implements programs to reduce hazardous fuels and wildfire threat in Oregon, northern California and Idaho, has stopped work on projects funded by Biden's legislation, which provides 65% of its $17 million budget.
The decision undermines Trump's repeated insistence that communities need to clear combustible materials like fallen branches and undergrowth — “it’s called management of the floor,” he said while visiting Los Angeles last month — to guard against wildfires.
Elizabeth Peace, a spokesperson for the Interior Department, said via email that mitigation work is “currently undergoing review to ensure consistency” with Trump’s executive orders.
