A federal funding freeze by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) delayed $10 million in Minnesota wildfire prevention. In 2024, the Biden administration awarded $10 million to the Superior National Forest to clear decades of fallen trees and dry vegetation. The funding was intended to reduce the threat of wildfires in high-risk areas like the Superior National Forest. DOGE paused nearly all U.S. Forest Service grant projects to review funding tied to climate and diversity initiatives. “We were shovel-ready,” Aaron Kania, a former Forest Service district ranger in the Superior National Forest, told the Washington Post.