Governor’s 2021 budget proposal includes $1 billion overall in wildfire and forest resilience funding

January 11, 2021 - Sacramento, CA – The Golden State has witnessed record devastation wrought by the worst wildfire seasons in history over the past decade.

The Legislature and the Governor have funded hundreds of millions of dollars in new wildfire prevention and preparedness for CalFire, counties, fire districts and natural resources agencies across the state.

This year’s budget proposal, released last week by Governor Newsom, also includes a $1 billion investment in wildfire and forest resilience and emergency response, doubling down on historic investments made over the past few years. Many of these new investments have been championed by Senator McGuire.

McGuire, the co-chair of the State Senate’s wildfire working group that is focused on enhancing resources for wildfire prevention, response and insurance stability, responded today to the Governor’s budget:

"Today’s budget reflects desperately needed funding on fire prevention and response, helping to keep millions of Californians safe. This budget also builds on past years’ significant investments including hundreds of millions for vegetation management and fire prevention, $143 million to support 30 new CalFire crews and $48 million to continue phasing in Black Hawk helicopters and large air tankers.

“And, we look forward to working with the Administration in the coming weeks to enhance this overall proposal. There’s still more work to do on wildfire prevention, which is why we’ll be moving with urgency to bolster this portion of the state’s budget,” Senator Mike McGuire said.

For over a year, Senator Mike McGuire has been working with Tribal leaders and the administration, advocating for California’s Native American Tribes, ensuring tribes are able to access state grant funding for vegetation management and fire prevention programs on tribal lands.

Today, in Governor Newsom’s 2021 budget, $20 million has been set aside to fund these critical Tribal fire programs and McGuire will be working collaboratively with Tribal leaders and administration officials to hammer out the final details. 

“We’ve been honored to work with Tribal leaders from across the state, ensuring state fire prevention funding will be invested on Tribal lands focused on vegetation management, dead and dying tree removal and fire prevention initiatives,” Senator McGuire said. "Tribal communities desperately need our help. They have been hit so damn hard by these mega-fires, and we’re grateful to Governor Newsom and Secretary Crowfoot for this critical investment.”

There are over 100 Tribal Nations across the Golden State. And, many of these Tribal communities have been impacted by devastating wildfires. The North Coast, where Senator McGuire represents, is home to more Native American Tribes per capita than anywhere else in California. 
Source: Senator Mike McGuire