Here’s how Trump’s illegal military deployment weakens firefighting resources – already strained by his dangerous U.S. Forest Service cuts

The National Guard impact is on top of the Trump administration’s dangerous cuts to the U.S. Forest Service, 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 – both of which are likely to impact wildfire response this year. The cuts come as the President issued an executive order yesterday on wildfire response – another order that rings hollow given the President’s actions.

“In just the first five months of 2025 California has experienced more than 2,300 wildfires,” said CAL FIRE Director and Fire Chief Joe Tyler. “Having the necessary firefighting apparatus and personnel is critical to our mission at CAL FIRE.”

Trump cuts to the U.S. Forest Service

The California Natural Resources Agency recently outlined impacts of President Trump’s cuts to the U.S. Forest Service: “State agencies in California are concerned that these cuts could jeopardize our nation-leading wildfire response capability, and result in a shift in emphasis from protecting communities to generating revenue from National Forests within the state.”

• More staffing losses ahead: The USFS has already lost 10% of all positions and 25% of positions outside of direct wildfire suppression, and a reorganization proposal to be announced soon is likely to include significant additional reductions.
• Suppression operations will likely suffer: The USFS claims that federal suppression resources are in good shape, but the reality is that deep cuts in related logistical staff are likely to have a major impact on fire operations.
• Weather forecasts will be hampered: National Weather Service cuts will reduce the availability of meteorologists for incident support, briefings, and overall coverage. CAL FIRE relies on NWS meteorologists for weather predictions, intelligence, and briefings on all major incidents.
• Timber targets may shift emphasis away from wildfire resilience: To generate more revenue from National Forests, the USFS is proposing to increase timber sales by 25% over five years. But because there is a mismatch between areas with high potential for timber sales (found at roughly 6,000-8,000 feet elevation) and areas most at risk from wildfire (1,000-4,000 feet elevation, including the Sierra Nevada and Southern California foothills), this could shift the focus of federal agencies away from protecting the state’s most vulnerable communities.
• State, private, and tribal grants programs proposed to be eliminated: The President’s proposed budget eliminates annual block grants to the states to support state, private landowner, tribal, and urban forestry programs. This will have a small impact in California, but will have dramatic impact on other Western states that are highly dependent on federal funding to support their wildfire resilience programs.  
• Regional offices could be combined or eliminated: The Pacific Southwest Regional Office in Vallejo is currently largely vacant, with senior leadership positions no longer there. The office is considered likely to be eliminated as part of the reorganization.
• Key scientific data will be lost and researchers laid off: The President’s proposed budget eliminates all USFS Research Stations and key scientific data to better design, implement, and assess the benefits of projects is being removed and will be unlikely to remain available. 

California’s unprecedented wildfire readiness 

As part of the state’s 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 – nearly double that from the previous administration. Over the next four years and beyond, CAL FIRE will be hiring thousands of additional firefighters, natural resource professionals, and support personnel to meet the state’s growing demands.

Late last month, the Governor announced $72 million for projects across the state that help reduce catastrophic wildfire risk. Additionally,16 new vegetation management and community protection projects spanning more than 7,000 acres have already been approved for fast-tracking under the Governor’s new streamlining initiative.

This builds on consecutive years of intensive and focused work by California to confront the severe ongoing risk of catastrophic wildfires, and Governor Newsom’s emergency proclamation signed in March to fast-track forest and vegetation management projects throughout the state. Additionally, to bolster the state’s ability to respond to fires, Governor Newsom announced last week that the state’s second C-130 Hercules airtanker is ready for firefighting operations, adding to the largest aerial firefighting fleet in the world. 

New, bold moves to streamline state-level regulatory processes builds long-term efforts already underway in California to increase wildfire response and forest management in the face of a hotter, drier climate. A full list of California’s progress on wildfire resilience is available here.

Highlights of achievements to date include:

• Historic investments — Overall, the state has more than doubled investments in wildfire prevention and landscape resilience efforts, providing more than $2.5 billion in wildfire resilience since 2020, with an additional $1.5 billion to be allocated from the 2024 Climate Bond.
• On-the-ground progress — More than 2,200 landscape health and fire prevention projects are complete or underway, and from 2021-2023, the State and its partners treated nearly 1.9 million acres, including nearly 730,000 acres in 2023.
• Increasing transparency — The Governor’s Task Force launched an Interagency Treatment Dashboard to display wildfire resilience work across federal, state, local, and privately managed lands across the State. The Dashboard, launched in 2023, provides transparency, tracks progress, facilitates planning, and informs firefighting efforts.
• Hardening communities — Adding to California’s nation-leading fire safety  standards, Governor Newsom signed an executive order to further improve community hardening and wildfire mitigation strategies to neighborhood resilience statewide. Since 2019, CAL FIRE has awarded more than $450 million for 450 wildfire prevention projects across the state and conducts Defensible Space Inspections on more than 250,000 homes each year.
• Leveraging cutting-edge technology — On top of expanding the world’s largest aerial firefighting fleet, CAL FIRE has doubled its use of Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS) and the state is utilizing AI-powered tools to spot fires quicker.