A review of last year’s California state budget shows California Gov. Gavin Newsom cut funding for wildfire and forest resilience by more than $100 million.
The budgetsigned in June and covering the 2024-2025 fiscal year, eliminated $101 million from seven “wildfire and forest resilience” programs, according to a Newsweek report.
The California fires are responsible for the destruction of more than 10,000 buildings in the United States Los Angeles area, are still not under control.
Fire crews battle the Kenneth Fire in the West Hills section of Los Angeles on Thursday, January 9, 2025. (Ethan Swope/AP)
Cal Fire received a $5 million reduction in spending on fuel reduction teams, including funds used to pay for vegetation management work by California National Guardthe report said.
LA FIRE RAISES ALARM ABOUT BUDGET CUTS AFFECTING RESPONSE TO WILDFIRE: MEMO
Other changes:
- There will be $28 million in cuts to multiple state conservancies that build wildfire resilience
- $12 million is being saved on a ‘home hardening’ experiment that would protect homes from wildfires
- Cuts $8 million from monitoring and research spending, mostly targeted at Cal Fire and state universities
- There will be a $4 million cut from the forest legacy program, which encourages landowners to manage their properties
- Funding for an inter-institutional forest data hub will be cut by $3 million
California Governor Gavin Newsom, right, surveys damage in Pacific Palisades with Cal Fire’s Nick Schuler on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025, in Pacific Palisades, California. (Jeff Gritchen/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images)
Izzy Gardon, Newsom’s communications director, called the cuts a “ridiculous lie” in a statement to Fox News Digital Friday evening.
ESSENTIAL TELEPHONE NUMBERS FOR LOS ANGELES RESIDENTS AND HOW YOU CAN HELP
“The Governor has doubled the size of our firefighting force, built the largest aerial firefighting fleet in the world and the state has increased forest management tenfold since he took office,” she wrote. “Facts matter.”
The devastation of the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Friday, January 10, 2025. (AP Photo/John Locher)
His office added statistics pointing to overall increases in spending and staffing over several years since he took office in 2019, rather than commenting on the most recent cuts.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Cal Fire did not immediately respond to a request for comment as of 8 p.m. Friday.
