In August 2018 , Zinke said that " environmental terrorist groups " were to blame for the 2018 California wildfires , and that the wildfires had " nothing to do with climate change " . Fire scientists and forestry experts reject that , attributing the increasingly destructive wildfires to heat and drought caused by climate change . Later that month , Zinke acknowledged that climate change did play a part in the wildfires . Zinke also stated that preventing removal of dead trees has increased the amount of flammable material and hurt timber salvaging
2018 California wildfires
2018 California wildfires
Ryan Zinke