Trump was RIGHT! California will spend $500 MILLION this year to thin its 33 million acres of forests to lessen the chance of wildfires – after former president was laughed at in 2018 for suggesting raking the woodland floor

  • Groups of 12-person crews are combing the 33 million acres of California forests and cutting down trees to lessen the chance of wildfires  
  • During the 2020 California wildfires, 31 people died and another 37 suffered non-fatal injuries due to 9,639 fires spread across the Golden State
  • Former US President Donald Trump had blamed the Cali’s ongoing and deadly wildfire problem on the state’s failure to clear its forests of dead trees and debris
  • Trump ultimately ended up withholding government aid to California until they put the plan into practice, which recently began with cleanup crews statewide 
  • California will be using $500 million in government aid specifically to combat its deadly wildfire problem 
  • But Los Padres ForestWatch conservation director Bryant Baker warns that controlled burns threaten the native plant areas of SoCal’s national forests 

California is adopting former Donald Trump’s plan to thin out the state’s 33 million acres of forests with controlled burns and raking the woodland floor – after state officials essentially laughed off the former president’s idea a few years ago.

Trump had suggested in 2018 that the Golden State start sweeping its forest floors of debris that often aids in the spread of wildfires.

But by Aug. 2020, at the peak of the state’s wildfire season, his suggestion became an ultimatum when he withheld wildfire financial aid on the basis of California’s failure to clear its forests of dead trees, branches and leaves, Politico reported at the time.

Now, California is putting Trump’s plan into practice statewide….

For now, that solution is for a handful of 12-man crews, equipped with chainsaws and axes, to thin out the state’s forests as a new wildfire season nears, Bloomberg reports. On a good day, these crews can clear up to a quarter of an acre a day.

But whether or not that plan is sustainable remains to be seen, with some skeptics questioning its longevity.

‘As soon as you cut it down, it starts to regrow,’ said Steve Hawks, manager of the wildfire planning and engineering division at Cal Fire, which maintains firefighting duties for 31 million acres.

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