Climatewire | The efforts to limit forest fires in a conservative strip in Northern Colorado are the last victim of the freezing of federal expenses of the Trump administration.
The coalition for the Poudre river basin earned several million dollars in subsidies during the Biden administration to help reduce the intensity and probability of forest fires and modernize the distribution of water in the basin of 1.2 million acres. But now the non -profit organization is among the hundreds of the country in Limbo as federal payments stop and begin during the random efforts of President Donald Trump to reduce the federal government.
“If money comes back, I’m afraid of spending something,” said Hally Strevey, executive director of the coalition.
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Strevey’s situation is representative of broader challenges that face non -profit organizations and small businesses, since Trump and Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, tries to dismantle federal agencies and reduce the government’s workforce. While the administration has begun disburse some previously blocked payments In response to judicial orders and public reaction, their initial movements have caused non -profit executives to question if their groups can deposit in federal subsidies that have been granted.
The subsidies and contracts of the federal, state and local government represent 30 percent of the income of the non -profit sector, and some groups depend completely on the financing of the Government, according to the National Council of Non -Profit Organizations, a commercial association that is demanding to block the freezing of Trump’s expenses. Many small businesses work with non -profit organizations such as the coalition of Poudre River or depend on the federal government for loans, added the Main Street alliance, a small businesses defense group that has joined the litigation.
The Poudre River coalition was formed in 2013 in response to catastrophic forest fires the previous year that had been torn by the national forests of Arapaho and Roosevelt. Climate scientists have found that global warming, mainly caused by burning fossil fuels, is Increased probability and damage to forest fires In the west of the United States as well as make droughts and floods more frequent.
The 2012 forest fire led to massive amounts of ashes and debris to flow to the La Poudre river, French to “hide the dust”, and its tributaries, which makes the water unusable to drink or grow. The coalition works to restore the basin, which includes two congress districts represented by Republican legislators.
But shortly after Trump assumed the position, the Strevey group discovered that the water infrastructure that he received from the recovery office were frozen. Fort Collins headquarters can not access a forest fire defense subsidy subsidy due to the uncertainty about the state of the agreement. The three subsidies were mainly financed until the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The coalition can only access its subsidy funds once they have paid local employees or contractors to do the engineering and forestry work, and Strevey is reluctant to do so because it is not sure that the Trump administration will reimburse its group for those expenses.
“That money can disappear at any time, and the people who work there do not even know,” said Strevey, who discovered that the recovery officials with whom he spoke were also surprised by the freezing of the administration’s water infrastructure subsidies. “There is no confidence in those funds for me at this time.”
The first -year republican representative, Gabe Evans, who represents a swing district to the north of Denver that is inside the Poudre basin, said he was committed to “critical programs that would return as quickly as possible”, but could not explain why they had been arrested first.
“You would have to occupy it with the administration,” he said.
Republican representative Lauren Bobert was supported by the actions of the administration, and blamed the Democrats for neglecting wood and water resources in their deep red district, which covers the eastern rural edge of Colorado.
“We need to be better administrators of our land and manager of our forests, and I do not see the cuts of President Trump or any of the employees who have been released that would negatively affect that,” he told E & e News last week. “In any case, we could make our policies stronger and better so we can handle that.”
The White House dismissed the concerns that their cuts had been indiscriminate and could damage the conservative communities.
“President Trump was chosen to reduce waste spending and rationalize the Federal Labor Force, which includes dismissing trial employees who are not missionary critics,” said Anna Kelly, a White House spokesman, in an email. “Its strategy to unleash economic growth will benefit US families and small businesses equally.”
Trump and Musk, the billionaire that the president has taken the opportunity to reduce the size of the federal government, indicated at a cabinet meeting last week that More cuts of spending and dismissals are approaching. The Musk government efficiency department has led an effort to stop federal financing and dismiss employees, including thousands of officials who were recently hired to help communities reduce forest fires and recover from natural disasters.
In the president’s joint speech against Congress on Tuesday, Trump said he and Musk had found fraudulent government programs “and we have recovered the money.” The independent reviews of the administration’s efficiency effort have found that the savings that are stated are Played with errors.
Trump also said that “the days of government of the unleashed bureaucrats have ended.” That pronouncement laughs at some Democratic legislators, who pointed to musk sitting on the balcony of the house.
A federal court last week determined that The Trump administration violated the law When his personnel management office ordered other agencies that dismiss his test employees. Meanwhile, Trump’s cuts have Pushed some environmental groups on the verge of insolvency.
Congress Democrats are widely opposed to the administration’s shots and move Block weather -related spending which has been directed by law. But without the control of the White House or any of the Chamber of Congress, they are limited in what they can do for their constituents.
The best tool that the Democrats have to “restore the funds is to throw a bright light, have transparency and illuminate the dangers that come,” said Senator John Hickenlooper (D-Colo), whose office compiled information from non-profit organizations focused on forest fires in his state on the impacts of Trump’s cuts.
Another option is to “go home and get a gallows,” he said. “Sometimes I feel like [doing] that.”
The National Council of Non -Profit Organizations and Main Street Alliance succeeded in Temporarily blocking the freezing of Trump administration expenses. But the litigation is ongoing, effectively suspending the mitigation subsidies of forest fires for the coalition of the Poudre River and other non -profit organizations.
“The preparation for the next season of forest fire is waiting,” said Rick Cohen, director of operations of the Council. “It is really not hyperbole to say that lives are at stake with these pauses and these subsidy cancellations.”
Reprint of E&E news With permission from politician, LLC. Copyright 2025. E&E News provides essential news for energy and environment professionals.
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