Trump’s fires: California fills federal void as mega-fires spread on neglected federal lands

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What you need to know: With some of the state's largest wildfires of 2025 under federal jurisdiction including the Garnet Fire which now threatens 2,000-year old sequoias, the Governor announced more than 100 wildfire prevention projects have been fast-tracked under his state of emergency proclamation.

SACRAMENTO - While the Trump administration has been busy slashing U.S. Forest Service budgets by 10% and cutting 25% of firefighting support staff, California has worked to become the nation's de facto wildfire response leader, deploying state resources to protect communities that the federal government seems increasingly unwilling to defend.

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. As federal lands burn across the state, California has stepped into the breach with billions in funding, thousands of personnel, and the world's largest aerial firefighting fleet to compensate for Washington's retreat from environmental stewardship. California only manages 3% of forests compared to 57% under federal management.

This comes as Governor Gavin Newsom announced today the state has fast-tracked over 100 vegetation management projects under the state of emergency he proclaimed earlier this year.

"It's 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've approved more than 100 wildfire prevention projects spanning over 25,000 acres for fast-tracking since March."

Governor Gavin Newsom