GOP Rep. Paul Gosar blames Biden administration for Grand Canyon fire
Rep. Paul Gosar suggested the Dragon Bravo fire raging at the Grand Canyon North Rim was caused by former President Joe Biden’s policies, according to a new letter.
Gosar, R-Arizona, also questioned Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, whose agency oversees a significant portion of the federal government’s wildland firefighters, on why the fire was not immediately extinguished 11 days ago.
“I am concerned that the spread of the Dragon Bravo Wildfire is the direct result of the recently inherited policies from the previous administration. Specifically, the Biden-Harris administration promoted policies that allowed for the mass overgrowth of brush, prohibited effective fuel reduction operations, and locked up the lands from resource development,” Gosar wrote.
Gosar is among a bipartisan group of Arizona officials calling for an investigation into the blaze, though he’s the first to blame Biden for the tragedy. The fire, which was 0% contained on July 15, destroyed the historic Grand Canyon Lodge and caused park officials to shut down the North Rim for the 2025 season.
He called the fire “a devastating loss of natural resources and a drastic economic burden on the tourism of the Grand Canyon.”
Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs called for an investigation into the fire. Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego, D-Arizona, penned their own letter to Burgum questioning why officials chose to handle the fire as a controlled burn. Rep. Eli Crane, R-Arizona, also supports an investigation into what happened, as does Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Arizona.
The National Park Service defended the wildfire as “expertly handled.” Spokesperson Rachel Pawlitz noted nobody had died in the inferno.
In the letter, Gosar asked Burgum who decided that the fire would be handled as a controlled burn after it was ignited July 4 by a lightning strike. Gosar, a member of the House National Resources Committee, chairs its subcommittee on oversight and investigations.
Officials initially used a “confine/contain” strategy to allow the wildfire to “fulfill its natural role within a defined area,” according to a July 9 Facebook post by Grand Canyon National Park. The goal was to reduce the accumulation of fuel and transform dead wood into nutrient-rich ash that promotes new plant growth, the post said.
However, dry air, gusty winds and above-normal heat caused the fire to grow rapidly on July 11. It destroyed roughly 70 structures, including the treasured Grand Canyon Lodge that opened in 1937.
“You must understand my confusion regarding why the NPS chose not immediately to extinguish this wildfire amid the record heat wave and long-term drought,” Gosar wrote.
Gosar asked Burgum which federal agencies responded to the fire, who monitored the atmospheric and weather changes that contributed to its rapid spread, and when the North Rim Water Treatment Facility was identified as a risk. The facility was damaged and leaking toxic chlorine gas, which forced officials to close the inner canyon and nearby trails.
Gosar questioned whether hazard mitigation and fuel reduction operations had been conducted at the North Rim before the start of wildfire season. Gosar was also interested to learn whether officials are considering new mitigation techniques, like logging on park lands.
He also asked for figures on the economic impact of closing the North Rim for the 2025 season and the loss of the historic lodge.
“Quickly rebuilding the infrastructure damaged or destroyed during this fire is vital to Arizona’s outdoor recreation economy,” Gosar said.
Gosar is a staunch ally of President Donald Trump. He praised the president’s recent executive order encouraging Burgum and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to consolidate their wildland firefighting resources.
Trump penned the order after the disjointed response to devastating wildfires in Los Angeles at the beginning of the year, saying he wanted to make fire response more efficient.
The Trump administration has also made funding and staffing cuts to the Interior Department and the Agriculture Department this year, as part of its mission to slash government spending through the Department of Government Efficiency.
Interior and Agriculture are among the top 10 government agencies that have seen the most cost savings, according to the DOGE website.
Trump’s executive order was mentioned in the letter to Burgum by Kelly and Gallego on July 14, who noted that the Interior Department is poised to take on even more wildfire responsibility.
“Our constituents deserve to know that the best wildfire response decisions are being made,” Kelly and Gallego said.
In his order, Trump sought to correct “mismanagement” by the Biden administration, Gosar said.
“Our brave firefighters and wildfire response personnel are not to blame; they are simply following the response policies established by their superiors. I urge the Department to deliver on President Trump’s promise in EO 14308, to implement commonsense wildfire response and coordination. The lives of Arizonans and our first responders continue to be at risk should we fail to improve our response capabilities,” Gosar wrote.
Stephanie Murray covers national politics and the Trump administration for The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. Reach her via email at stephanie.murray@gannett.com and on X, Bluesky, TikTok and Threads @stephanie_murr.