The California Department of Fish & Wildlife was told by the US Forest Service that it will not be getting a ~$1M grant for the removal of waste from illicit cannabis grows

Spotted by Lex Pelger

The U.S. Forest Service has informed California’s Department of Fish and Wildlife that it will not be able to proceed with a nearly $1 million grant awarded by the state for the purpose of removing waste left by illegal cannabis cultivation sites on federal lands.

The grant was awarded to the USFS in 2022 and was expected to be a project in partnership with the Bureau of Land Management. But on March 5, CDFW confirmed to POLITICO, the Forest Service gave California notice it would no longer proceed with the project.

The move comes in the wake of the Trump administration’s layoffs at federal agencies — including USDA (which oversees the USFS) and the Department of the Interior (which oversees BLM) — and frozen federal grant projects. It also comes as Congress considers legislation that would increase federal funding to do cleanup of illicit cannabis grows on federal lands around the country. The bill had a hearing in the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Federal Lands last week.

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https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2025/03/usfs-pulls-out-of-california-forest-cleanup-program-targeting-illicit-cannabis-grows-00231273