Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke on Wednesday argued against casting blame for the wildfires raging in California, deflecting from President Trump’s tweets over the weekend that blamed the fires on the state’s own mismanagement.
“Now is really not the time to point fingers,” Zinke said at a press conference with California Gov. Jerry Brown.
Zinke and Brown surveyed the damage earlier on Wednesday at the Camp Fire site in the northern part of the state before convening a private meeting with state, local, and federal officials.
Brown mentioned that he spoke with Trump by phone, conveying the president’s promise of providing the full support of the federal government in helping California respond to the wildfires.
Trump tweeted on Saturday that there is “no reason” for the deadly forest fires except for poor forest management.
“Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more Fed payments,” Trump tweeted.
On Monday, Trump agreed to Brown’s request for the White House to issue a national disaster declaration to provide federal assistance to the state.
Zinke appeared to downplay Trump’s arguments over forestry mismanagement, saying “there are a lot of reasons for why these catastrophic fires are happening.”
Dead and dying timber caused by beetle infestations is a big part of the problem, Zinke said. He also said that the fire season has grown longer along with warming temperatures but stopped short of mentioning climate change as the reason.
Brown said climate change is exacerbating the problems facing California, which he said will only grow worse in the future.
