I don't know enough about the situation to know if improved forest management would or would not play a meaningful factor in preventing the situation, but the tweet was another ill advised rant by Trump.
I'll admit the media sometimes latches onto non-issues with trump, but the guy's such a fucking brute that he ends up proving them right more often than not. So the biggest GDP state, with highest tax contributions has to be punished by disaster relief withholding for not bending to Trump's will as was done in Puerto Rico? And his supporters are OK with it? Then why the fuck aren't we seceding into different countries at this point?
Actually if you look at federal storm aid distribution, Puerto Rico received more federal money ($41 Billion) than all the storms this year in the U.S. combined. Puerto Rico whined about the slow federal distribution but our U.S. government was simply trying to stop all the aid from being stolen by the corrupt government officials on the island. When Hurricane Florence hit North Carolina this year - 95% of the money spent in the first month of the response came from the state and local level. Puerto Rico can learn from this example.
From your source: Washington - The federal allocations promised to Puerto Rico to mitigate the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria amount to about $41 billion , but authorities estimate that less than a quarter of those funds - the reconstruction pillar - have been disbursed to the island. After the slow and inefficient initial federal response, spokespersons for the government of Puerto Rico have recognized a significant delay in the release of a great portion of the assistance, which they attribute to the fact that the island is treated as a high-risk jurisdiction in the management of federal funds. "The reimbursement process has been really hard, particularly when FEMA has imposed some requirements on us as if we were a risk jurisdiction, when we were not declared so," Marrero said in an interview. So like I said, Trump's using FEMA as a bludgeon to bring PR to heel.
Actually the current number is $60 Billion. And if you carefully read the articles on the problems with slow disbursement - the government of Puerto Rico can only blame itself. The government entities have been completely uncooperative in filing the required documentation to receive the funds. For some reason the officials in Puerto Rico believe that the federal government should simply send them money with no accountability. The bottom line - the slow response has nothing to do with Trump. The money is available and guidance on how to file the appropriate paperwork is available, Puerto Rico is simply failing to even do the minimum basics to help themselves receive the designated and budgeted federal aid money. $60 billion to spend on disaster recovery – what could go wrong? https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-...pend-on-disaster-recovery-what-could-go-wrong "Federal grants, like those offered by FEMA and HUD, come with strings attached. Those spending the funds (grantees or sub-grantees) must demonstrate to the federal government that the money is being spent for its intended purposes, that it is not being wasted or spent recklessly, and that any vendors or partners follow suit, among other requirements. Those rules apply to any organization or entity – from non-profit groups to local government authorities and municipalities – receiving and expending federal grant funds. The rules extend to vendors and contractors paid with federal funds, even if they are not the recipient of the original grant. Compliance with federal grant rules can be challenging: organizations must correctly interpret and apply federal statutes, regulations, and guidance, and adhere to certain cost principles and procurement rules. Grantees must also prepare for and respond to federal agency reviews, audits, cost disallowances, false claim actions and other oversight or enforcement measures. The expected surge of funding in Puerto Rico will carry with it unprecedented demand for accountability across multiple programs administered by several federal agencies. Many future grantees are unprepared for the accompanying level of scrutiny. Case in point: Congress has already authorized HUD to allocate up to $20 billion in Puerto Rico disaster recovery grants to rebuild homes, restore communities, and meet urgent economic and infrastructure needs. Under the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (Public Law 115-123) (“BBA”), approval of federal grants is conditioned upon proof that policies and procedures (1) ensure effective financial controls and procurement processes; (2) prevent duplication of benefits; (3) guarantee timely expenditure of funds; and (4) detect and prevent waste, fraud and abuse of funds. In addition, Section 21210 of the BBA requires the governor of Puerto Rico to submit an economic and disaster recovery plan that “is consistent with programmatic guidance” issued by FEMA and “promotes transparency and accountability.” This past July, HUD announced the approval of the first disaster recovery plan for Puerto Rico, representing $1.5 billion of initial federal funding. Few would advocate further delay in putting federal recovery money to good use in Puerto Rico; however, a successful recovery effort requires that all recipients of federal disaster funds understand their new status as grantees (sub-grantees or contractors) and the heightened responsibility that accompanies the big checks. Statistics from Hurricane Maria are grim enough; recipients of grant funding need to heed the cautionary tale of early mistakes. Instead of rushing to disburse funds, pause and plan. The time to start complying with grant conditions is now, before the first dollar of federal money is disbursed."
I don't know much about forest management, so I can't really say if that would've stopped the fires, but it is weird that these fires only seem to happen in California and not Oregon, Nevada, Arizona or any of the other western states. I've been to Paradise California though about half a dozen times in my life, and it always did kind of strike me as a firetrap there. Dry pine needles litter nearly every inch of that town and I remember thinking how if someone threw a cigarette butt out the window, it would probably burn a dozen homes on some of the streets there. I mean even parking at the movie theater or the grocery store parking lot, there's about a 25% chance you're going to track pine needles into your car.