LaMalfa Applauds Trump Executive Order to Overhaul Wildfire Prevention and Response

Washington, D.C.- Congressman Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale) joined President Trump at the White House for the signing of a new Executive Order aimed at restoring commonsense to wildfire prevention and response. The order, titled Empowering Commonsense Wildfire Prevention and Response, takes direct steps to improve coordination across agencies, cut unnecessary regulations, and strengthen the tools and partnerships needed to prevent catastrophic wildfires.

"As peak wildfire season continues, President Trump is continuing to take decisive action to increase preparedness to combat these preventable disasters," said Rep. LaMalfa. "By consolidating Federal wildland fire programs between agencies and increasing Federal and local partnerships, every firefighter will be part of a stronger and better coordinated response. The President's action also modernizes the tools available to predict and detect wildfires, which will not only hasten reaction times but also enhance preparation and prevention efforts. Strengthening State and local response, and land management practices will decrease future out of control fires. I look forward to seeing implementation of this Executive Order."

Background:

• Directs the Department of the Interior and Department of Agriculture to consolidate federal wildland fire programs for better coordination.
• Modernizes detection and prediction efforts by deploying tools like AI, data-sharing platforms, satellite imagery, and advanced weather forecasting.
• Removes outdated regulations that delay prescribed fire use, fire-retardant deployment, and other proactive fuel reduction efforts.
• Promotes the use of woody biomass and other forest byproducts to lower wildfire risk.
• Prioritizes sale of surplus Department of Defense aircraft and parts to support wildfire response.
• Declassifies historical satellite data to improve fire modeling and prediction.
• Strengthens federal partnerships with state and local governments to streamline and improve wildfire mitigation efforts.