Well, well, well—look who’s finally come around! California Governor Gavin Newsom, the Golden State’s self-styled progressive poster boy, has just declared a state of emergency to clear flammable brush from the state’s forests. And why? Because President Donald Trump’s been right all along, and Newsom knows it. POLITICO broke the story detailing how Newsom’s dramatic move suspends California’s sacred environmental regulations—those same rules the left has clung to like a security blanket while wildfires torch the state year after year. Turns out, Trump’s been sounding the alarm on this for years, and Sacramento’s finally listening.
Let’s rewind the tape. Back in his first term, Trump famously pointed out what any sensible person could see: California’s forests were a tinderbox waiting to ignite, choked with dead trees and brush that the state refused to clear. His solution? Manage the land—rake it, trim it, do something—instead of letting nature run wild under the guise of eco-piety. The response from the California elite? Sneers and eye-rolls. “Raking the forests? How simplistic!” they scoffed, as if Trump had suggested fairy dust could solve the problem. Meanwhile, wildfires kept burning, lives were lost, and billions in damages piled up—culminating in January’s Los Angeles blaze, now pegged as the costliest disaster in U.S. history.
Fast forward to today, March 3, 2025. Newsom’s emergency order isn’t just a policy shift—it’s a tacit admission that Trump’s been on the money. The governor’s suspending the California Environmental Quality Act and Coastal Act, those bureaucratic behemoths Trump and his allies have long blamed for tying the state’s hands. Newsom’s even echoing Trump’s language, promising “fuel breaks” and “prescribed fires” to protect vulnerable communities. Sound familiar? It should. Trump’s been hammering this point since at least 2018, when he first called out California’s mismanagement—despite the fact that over half the state’s forests are federally controlled, a detail his critics conveniently ignore.
And here’s the kicker: Newsom’s timing couldn’t be more transparent. With Trump back in the White House and Republicans holding the purse strings on nearly $40 billion in disaster aid for Los Angeles, the governor’s suddenly eager to play ball. POLITICO notes Trump’s January visit to LA, where he slammed the California Coastal Commission as a permitting nightmare—“the most difficult in the entire country,” he said. Now Newsom’s slashing those same red-tape rules to appease the administration. Coincidence? Hardly. This is a man who knows the aid spigot won’t flow unless he shows some spine on forest management.
The irony is thicker than the smoke over LA. For years, Newsom and his crew insisted they’d “surged” brush-clearing efforts since he took office in 2019. Yet here we are, with the governor admitting it’s not enough—implicitly conceding that Trump’s critique hit the bullseye. Even Richard Grenell, Trump’s special envoy, is piling on, calling the Coastal Commission “a disaster” and hinting at tying aid to real reforms.
So, let’s raise a glass to common sense prevailing—at least for now. California’s finally waking up to the reality that hugging trees doesn’t stop them from burning. Trump’s been vindicated, and Newsom’s eating a slice of humble pie, whether he admits it or not. The only question left is how long it’ll take the eco-warriors to forgive their golden boy for this heresy. Something tells me they won’t be raking him over the coals too hard—not when there’s federal cash on the line.
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I have a serious legal question.
Where does the governor get the legal authority to suspend laws?
Same with all the COVID lockdowns etc.
I met a smoke jumper in Oregon a few years back. Of course I pestered him with a ton of questions about his job.
He said that he does fight a few fires in Oregon, but that his crew is sent to California every year. He said fighting the California wildfires is always the worst, most hazardous duty.
He said it is because their forests are in the worst shape. When I asked why, he said the forest managers know they need to clear and perform prescribed burns like they do in the adjacent states, but they are always shut down by the CA air quality board which will block even the smallest burns under even the best atmospheric conditions.
I am sure that X% of the information I just recounted is subtly wrong or simplified, since the guy was not a high-ranking official. However, when I have talked to landowners in California, they too say they believe that is true.
I expect California has so many “environmental” laws that they are frequently in conflict. A good governor and legislature would allow some flexibility to prevent emergencies before they occur. Since the CA politicians are already too late for that, perhaps they can still round up a few of the horses long after the barn door was left open.
That’s assumig that “prevent(ing) emergencies before they occur” is the goal. In the case of California (and progressivism in general) causing emergencies is not a bug, it’s a feature. It’s all about control.
Your smoke-jumper friend was correct. Typical California burning season is sometime in Oct-Nov until sometime in June due to conditions, mostly moisture.
AQM districts used to shut ag burning down—for silly reasons—all the time, smoke would blow into Sacramento, its Easter weekend, etc. Now they very rarely shut us down.
It’s in the first sentence. Declaring a state of emergency as allowed in the law suspends the ‘rules’
I have a burn permit on our farm. We typically burn once or twice a year on small patches to set back the tree succession and return the land to prairie. So I am at the level of a knowledgeable amateur.
At least ten years back, I was in Colorado or Wyoming, and observed what looked like a “best practices” (to me) for forest management.
Crews with saws and perhaps a little bit of heavy machinery (skidsteers with grapple rakes?) had stacked fabulous slash piles every 50 yards or so in the most conspicuous nearby clearing. They were built like gigantic bonfires.
I guarantee they would have burned very hot and very fast once the wood had dried out.
It is a lot of work hauling out wood debris. I frequently can’t believe how much woody debris is generated when I just clear out a small thicket.
I think the plan was to burn all of the woody debris in place, rather than build roads and do all of the trucking to haul it out. I suspect some small crews could have lit, monitored, and burned to ash several hundred piles in a day when the wind and humidity conditions were perfect.
I wish I could remember which National Forest I was in, because IMO they had an excellent fire manager that actually knew how to help the forest survive long term.
I’ve seen the same piles in Rocky Mountain National Park after the pine beetle moved through.
Did you ever get a chance to observe if they came back in and burned those piles?
I believe the beetles fly in early summer? I think you are supposed to burn the piles by May 1st to kill all of the larva in the slash.
Pulling from memory here so take it for what’s worth but I recall reading the pine beetle doesn’t travel very far. Our dense lodge pole forest is why there is so much beetle kill as the trees are to close to each other promoting fast spreading of the beetles.
I would think the biggest reason to cut and pile up beetle kill for burning is to prevent super hot fires from all the dead trees. I was chased out of an area with a lot of beetle kill after a Tstorm (camping with my parents for a week) sparked a fire. I had commented to my dad just a few days prior that all it would take was a single spark and it would all go up in flames. Another observation on private vs. public. I went back multiple time over the years (favorite area to horse camp) and all the private land that burned was quickly replanted. None of the public lands were replanted and the manzanita bush had taken over, that’s a bush that loves to burn and spreads so quickly it will out compete trees if not kept under control.
Yes, the piles got burned over the winter when the was snow on the ground.
Since the beetles need the tree sap and will drink a tree dry, there is no danger of the dead trees providing that specific nuisance any shelter.
As I recall (from the mention years ago) that Norway and maybe other countries have a “raking” program. I even found a couple of videos. Some folks laughed at Trump, then discovered they were wrong, and then they shut up.
Yes, Trump had serious talks with European nations about how they managed their forests so well.
When I was in the US Army, often some trees were pushed down by tanks during exercises.
Each tree is numbered and has a price.
Plus a fine for cutting it down, accidentally or not.
I never saw any forest fires, because there was no underbrush.
Tell them that all along the Med coast . Chronic summer fire problems
Pikes Peak National forest has done the same.
Another issue is the willingness of judges, both Federal and State, to defer to the Green Blob. Whatever the purported policy of the State of California is on wildlands management, the Green Blob will sue, usually successfully, to block it. Barring that, drag it out indefinitely.
A fair amount of that is sue-and-settle by green Democrat apparatchiks, not really contesting the green NGOs many will eventually be employed by.
You describe two wolves and a sheep voting on “what’s for dinner?”.
As you have stated, the outcome of that “vote” is always predetermined.
Democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on “what’s for dinner?”.
Freedom is a sheep with a gun contesting the vote.
NGOs soon to become an endangered species thanks to Mr. T
Are they? The enviro litigious groups are not funded by government. Trump and Musk do not oversee their budgets or actions. It’s not going to be so easy to combat them. Also, the States do not control or even influence Fed actions on Fed lands.
I may disagree, but fair comment. don’t know why the down votes.
It’s not going to be so easy to combat them.
There is an element of truth in your comment. The greatest risk we face is not what we know we don’t know, but rather what we don’t know we don’t know.
Many NGOs have been determined to be government funded through highly questionable means. Others have been determined to be non-government funded and again through highly questionable means. The third class, obviously, are the legitimate NGOs funded via legitimate means.
It all a percentage question. And there are a lot of NGOs, especially concerning are the unidentified NGOs.
Doesn’t the government determine the tax status of NGOs? And “Non-Profits”?
It’s probably just the US version of Paul Keating’s “never stand between a State Premier and a bucket of money”.
Reminds me of what President Biden said about the southern border, “cannot doing anything without congressional legislation.” Fast forward 43 days. The border is secure. “If there is a will, there is a way.” Looks like Newsom has found the will and the way. Money talks.
All we needed was a new president
Yes, all we needed was a new president.
All the Democrats lied about the situation. Every one of them claimed the only way to control the border was for Congress to write new laws, and the Democrats claimed they couldn’t do anything about illegal immigration until that happened.
Well, Trump has shone them for the liars they really are. Trump didn’t need even one new law to secure the border, all he needed was the will to do so. That’s all the Democrats needed too, but they don’t have the will to do so. That’s because they are dangerously stupid.
Newsom and CA state govt do not manage Fed land. Not their purview, even if they wanted to.
They don’t manage the land, but they stand to lose (and lose a lot) so they certainly have an obligation to raise a holy ruckus instead of quietly waiting for the inevitable. Instead, it looks like their attitude was, “Not my problem.”
Trouble is… the state can (and does) make it hugely more difficult for the Feds (and private landowners) to manage their own property.
State rules don’t apply to federal agencies like you think. It’s the other way around.
San Francisco just won the other day against the EPA
Apparently Sleepy Joe never read the INA. There is written in that law a clause that allows the President to shut down the border, pause immigration, etc., without Congressional approval if the President perceives a threat to the security of the country or the wellbeing of the people.
What am I missing here? Over half of CA forests are federally controlled. In Oregon 65% of forest lands are Fed controlled. The states do NOT control those lands. The US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management do.
Is that unclear? The governors and state legislatures do NOT manage Fed lands. Federal agencies are the ones who have failed to treat fuels, who have allowed fuels to accumulate, who have allowed fires to burn. Gavin Newsom is worthless. So is Tina Kotek. But they are not responsible for crappy stewardship of Federal lands.
The USFS is an agency in the Dept. of Agriculture. Trump’s new Sec Ag is Brooke Rollins. So far she seems to be a complete airhead, although it’s early. Maybe she will catch a clue and reform the USFS. But until she or someone (Congress) does, Fed forests will remain in a totally un-managed, unkempt, fire prone condition. And Fed megafires will continue to destroy forests and nearby communities, Newsom or no Newsom.
We agree, Newsome is a turd
So, Newsome’s job is to sit quietly and wait for the inevitable fires to come?
Just curious, were the LA fires on state or federal land?
State.
Again, the State can and does erect many obstacles to prevent the Feds managing Federal lands. They still need permits and cooperation from state agencies.
Your objection is reasonable in my view however the giant fires were mostly on STATE land that consumed part of Los Angeles county and since Fires don’t care what it burns whether it is state or federal land it MUST be addressed by someone with political power which Newsome as Governor has in abundance was derelict to deal with it.
There aren’t any forests around Los Angeles. That’s true forests. Instead the hills not urbanised are cover by chaparral, really only minor bushes. There is no undergrowth to burn off leaving the top story behind.
Burn the chaparral and the whole lot burns, do it regularly and the bush growth gets replaced by wild grasses, probably even worse fire prone
Everything the green blob controls eventually turns into ash.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_California_wildfires
Wikipedia knew. Newsom didn’t.
PG&E knew. Newsom didn’t.
From the article: “Let’s rewind the tape. Back in his first term, Trump famously pointed out what any sensible person could see: California’s forests were a tinderbox waiting to ignite, choked with dead trees and brush that the state refused to clear. His solution? Manage the land—rake it, trim it, do something—instead of letting nature run wild under the guise of eco-piety. The response from the California elite? Sneers and eye-rolls. “Raking the forests? How simplistic!” they scoffed, as if Trump had suggested fairy dust could solve the problem.”
Trump actually knew what he was talking about. Trump consulted with European nations about how they managed their forests, and had no large-scale forest fires, and “raking” was part of their plan.
Far-Left Democrats are the dumbest people on Earth. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be Far-Left Democrats. Democrat politicians looked like a bunch of spoiled children at President Trump’s speech last night to a joint session of Congress. Sore losers. Dangerous, Vindictive, Undermining. Unfit to govern. A very serious threat to our individual freedoms.
What’s right is what’s right. What’s wrong is what’s left.
Trump doesn’t know what he’s talking about ! He doesn’t even know that transgenic mice aren’t ‘transmice’
Another fact , there are no forests around Los Angeles in the sense he’s talking about. It’s a chaparral, a small to medium drought tolerant bushes.
There is no undergrowth and no top story.
So there’s noting around Los Angeles that can burn?
Funny, I thought I saw a conflagration in that area not long ago.
Maybe you mean there is not *now* anything that can burn, since it all burned up recently.
Newsom wants $40 BILLION of federal, taxpayer funds with no strings attached, after he signed into law a $50 million fund to litigate against removing illegals, and spent $9.8 BILLION per year on healthcare for illegals.
The voters of California should recall him, etc.
Trump should just ignore him, give him nothing, until he is ousted.
Yes it’s far too much money, maybe $12 bill is more like it. But California has a large delegation,
The beetle kill hit here in the N Rockies at the same time the mortgage
crisis hit round 06-08. I had a quote for our timber around $450/load that winter that
dropped to a negative number in a couple of months. The situation in the
woodlands were a mess and stayed that way for years. A contact I had
for a wood boiler in Niagara NY was working in Canada on components on six
25mw biomass boilers. Those units each had crews clearing out the bug kill,
chipping on the landing and trucking fuel to the power plants 24/7. Nothing like that
was going on down here. Nothing…I had recently flown in from London and got a good view of
the private timber ground in E Canada/New England at that time. What a difference to our federally
managed timber grounds.. California was a leader in so many things but has gotten
so radical I feel it needs to totally collapse and start over.. Sad times It would starts at the top
I think they are getting what they deserve after continually electing the same type
of officials. I know a number of people who live in the burned area but haven’t heard
how they are doing.
I’ve said this many times:
The insanity will continue until sufficient damage is inflicted.
Seems a wee bit of sanity is coming to California, much too late, but muchly needed.
I’ll suggest that Newsome’s motivation is political – he will run for the Presidency.
Clearing brush is a huge amount of work. Maybe one has to start that way, to get rid of the build-up, but afterwards? Wouldn’t controlled burns be a lot more sensible? If the environmentalists want nature, regular burns are what nature does in that kind of environment.
Prescribed grazing with goats is good way way to clean up the coastal brush in CA.
https://www.facebook.com/SouthMetroPIO/videos/we-use-the-phrase-ready-set-go-for-wildfire-preparedness-but-what-about-ready-se/889349743284605/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmBwr2lXXso
https://www.instagram.com/lockheedmartinspace/reel/DCHZlq2qZbN/
Most of those are Australian Cashmere’s that are #1 for this kind of work.
Prescribed grazing is like prescribed fire without the heat.
Lani is one of the contractors in CO and over in ID Ray Holes the “Goat King’
used to start his season in CA every year. CA made the contractors pay their
herders $15/hr++ which is not right.
Good news. I’d still keep a close eye on Newsom, I put no stock in what he says.
Almost half the land in California is managed by federal agencies. What is being done to clear it?