Increased federal investment is vital because the U.S. government owns 57% of the forestland in California, compared to the 3% the state owns, Newsom said. He added that an early June executive order from Trump on federal wildfire prevention and response does not go far enough to match California’s efforts.
The U.S. Forest Service has lost 10% of all positions, which will likely “impact wildfire response this year,” Newsom said, adding that noncompetitive federal firefighter pay has led to further staffing shortages. California, meanwhile, has nearly doubled Cal Fire’s ranks since Newsom took office in 2019, he said.
That’s possible, Newsom said, because the state has doubled Cal Fire’s annual budget to $3.78 billion in that time and invested more than $4 billion in wildfire prevention and forest resilience. That work includes using AI-powered tools to locate fires, deploying drones to help conduct prescribed burns and monitor wildfires, and creating the “world’s largest civilian firefighting aviation fleet,” adding 16 helicopters and seven retrofitted U.S. Coast Guard air tankers.
The state also established Task Force Rattlesnake, comprising 300 California National Guard members under the direction of Cal Fire, to help fight and prevent fires. However, that unit is operating at 40% of capacity because the Trump administration diverted eight of the 14 teams to the federalization of the National Guard in Los Angeles, Newsom said.
Buildings are destroyed along Fair Oaks Avenue in Altadena, California, after the Eaton Fire swept through the area northeast of Los Angeles, California, on Jan. 9, 2025. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)
Newsom wants Trump to reassign the units to help Cal Fire as the wildfire season ramps up during the hottest time of the year.
“You’ve got men and women, literally, sitting there in their barracks doing nothing when they could be doing something as important as preparing for wildfire season,” Newsom said.
So far this year, there have already been more than 3,200 wildfires in California. And with much of Northern California under a red flag warning for lightning and fast-moving fires for the Fourth of July weekend, Newsom said it’s imperative that Trump takes swift action.
It’s essential to “keep these fires small,” said Anale Burlew, Cal Fire chief deputy director of operations. “Destructive fires in California affect everyone, whether it’s smoke, evacuation, damage to home or natural resources, or long-term fiscal impacts; we are all connected, and the impacts of wildfire ripple through communities.”
