"With a government shutdown looming, President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday to boost logging and forest thinning on more than 4 million acres of federal lands to combat extreme wildfires.
The order, which makes no mention of climate change, comes on the heels of another devastating and deadly wildfire season in California. Trump has blamed the state’s infernos on everything from a lack of raking to a nonexistent water shortage resulting from “bad environmental laws.” And the administration has used the disasters to push partisan policy, connecting devastating California wildfires to a longstanding fight between farmers and environmentalists over water resources.
“For decades, dense trees and undergrowth have amassed in these lands, fueling catastrophic wildfires,” Trump’s order reads. “These conditions, along with insect infestation, invasive species, disease, and drought, have weakened our forests, rangelands, and other Federal lands, and have placed communities and homes at risk of damage from catastrophic wildfires.”"
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