California has experienced significant federal wildfire activity in 2025, with at least 15 major fires burning over 350,000 acres on national forest and Bureau of Land Management lands.\u00a0 As federal lands\u00a0burn across the state, California has stepped into the breach with billions in funding, thousands of personnel, and the world\u2019s largest aerial firefighting fleet to compensate for Washington\u2019s retreat from environmental stewardship. California only manages 3% of\u00a0forests compared to 57% under federal management.<\/p>\n
This comes as Governor Gavin Newsom announced today the state has fast-tracked over 100 vegetation management projects under the\u00a0state of emergency he proclaimed<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0earlier this year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a bitter irony that California taxpayers are funding both state and federal wildfire protection while the federal government that owns the burning land cuts funding and diverts resources to political theater. Trump can follow our lead now that we\u2019ve approved more than 100 wildfire prevention projects spanning over 25,000 acres for fast-tracking since March.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Governor Gavin Newsom<\/small><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Earlier this year, the\u00a0Governor warned<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0that the Trump administration\u2019s cuts to the U.S. Forest Service could have catastrophic results. The Governor also sent a\u00a0model executive order<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0to the White House for the President to issue to help the federal government match California\u2019s efforts and better manage its forestlands.<\/p>\n Despite jurisdictional boundaries, California has provided comprehensive support to all federal wildfire incidents through unified command structures, direct resource deployment, National Guard support, and extensive coordination systems that ensure seamless integration of state and federal firefighting capabilities.<\/p>\n Federal fires impacting California\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Garnet Fire \u2013 Sierra National Forest, Fresno County<\/strong><\/p>\n Size: 54,925 acres | Containment: 14% | Started: August 24, 2025 | Cause: Lightning<\/em><\/p>\n Gifford Fire \u2013 Los Padres National Forest, San Luis Obispo & Santa Barbara Counties<\/strong><\/p>\n Size: 131,614 acres | Containment: 98% | Started: August 1, 2025 | Structures Destroyed: 5 | Injuries: 18 total (3 civilians, 15 firefighters)<\/em><\/p>\n Madre Fire \u2013 Los Padres National Forest & BLM Lands, San Luis Obispo County<\/strong><\/p>\n Size: 80,779 acres | Containment: 100% | Started: July 2, 2025 | Contained: July 26, 2025 | Structures Destroyed: 1 | Structures Damaged: 1<\/em><\/p>\n Orleans Complex \u2013 Six Rivers & Klamath National Forests, Del Norte & Siskiyou Counties<\/strong><\/p>\n Size: 22,144 acres | Containment: 91% | Started: July 9, 2025 | Cause: Lightning<\/em><\/p>\n Green Fire \u2013 Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Shasta County<\/strong><\/p>\n Size: 19,022 acres | Containment: 100% | Started: June 30, 2025 | Cause: Lightning<\/em><\/p>\n For more information on fires impacting California, go to\u00a0fire.ca.gov<\/strong><\/a>. California has provided extensive resources to all major federal land fires through multiple mechanisms:<\/p>\n Personnel and equipment deployment<\/strong><\/p>\n National Guard support<\/strong><\/p>\n Despite federal deployment reductions, California National Guard has provided critical support:<\/p>\n Financial and logistics support<\/strong><\/p>\n Evacuation and emergency coordination<\/strong><\/p>\n California\u2019s unprecedented wildfire readiness\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n As part of the state\u2019s ongoing investment in wildfire resilience and emergency response, CAL FIRE has significantly expanded its workforce over the past five years by adding an average of 1,800 full-time and 600 seasonal positions annually \u2013 nearly double that of the previous administration. Over the next four years and beyond, CAL FIRE will be\u00a0hiring thousands of additional firefighters<\/strong><\/a>, natural resource professionals, and support personnel to meet the state\u2019s growing demands.<\/p>\n In recent months, the Governor has announced millions of dollars in investments to protect communities from wildfire \u2013 with\u00a0$135 million available<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0for new and ongoing prevention projects and\u00a0$72 million going out the door<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0to projects across the state. This is part of over $5 billion the Newsom administration, in collaboration with the legislature, has invested in wildfire and forest resilience since 2019. Additionally, 103 new vegetation management projects spanning over 25,000 acres\u00a0have already been fast-tracked to approval\u00a0<\/strong><\/a>under the streamlined process provided by the Governor\u2019s\u00a0March 2025 state of emergency proclamation<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n This builds on consecutive years of intensive and focused work by California to confront the severe ongoing risk of catastrophic wildfires. New, bold moves to streamline state-level regulatory processes builds long-term efforts already underway in California to\u00a0increase wildfire response and forest management in the face of a hotter, drier climate.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n The state\u2019s efforts are in stark contrast to the Trump administration\u2019s dangerous\u00a0cuts to the U.S. Forest Service<\/strong><\/a>, which also threatens the safety of communities across the state. The U.S. Forest Service has lost 10% of all positions and 25% of positions outside of direct wildfire response \u2013 both of which are likely to impact wildfire response this year. In recent weeks, the Trump administration proposed a massive reorganization that would shutter the Pacific Regional Forest Service office and other regional Forest Service offices across the West, compounding staff cuts and voluntary resignations across the agency.<\/p>\n\n
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\nCalifornia\u2019s comprehensive support for federal lands<\/strong><\/p>\n\n
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