FACT CHECK: Trump on forest management
TRUMP'S STATEMENT: "Every year, I get the call, 'California's burning. California's burning.' If that was cleaned, if you have forest management, good forest management, you wouldn't be getting those calls."
FACT CHECK: Trump's repeated comments connecting forest management and wildfires ignores the increasing impact on climate change on how quickly the fires develop and spread.
Trump has focused on forest management when talking about wildfires in western states, often criticizing local leaders who have disagreed with his response to climate change.
While decisions about how to manage forests and wildfires are important, Trump's stance disregards evidence that climate change is playing a significant role in why wildfires have become so destructive in recent years.
During a briefing on wildfires in California earlier this month Trump refuted State Secretary for Natural Resources Wade Crawfoot when he described the impact of increasing heat and drought on the conditions that lead to fires. Trump said, "It'll start getting cooler," directly contradicting conclusions by climate scientists who argue temperatures around the world will continue to rise by saying, "I don't think science knows actually."
Increasing heat and droughts are "supercharging" wildfires by creating drier conditions for trees and brush. Warmer temperatures have also decreased moisture from melting snow and allowed bark beetles to travel further north, killing millions of trees, according to the National Climate Assessment published in 2018.
These factors allow fires to spread more quickly.
As the planet continues to warm, those conditions will only get worse, making wildfires more dangerous, climate scientists say.
The majority of land impacted by wildfires in states like California, Washington and Oregon is also managed by the federal government, which proactively removes dead trees and brush and conducts controlled burns to keep forests healthy.
-ABC News' Stephanie Ebbs
