"Michael Boren, who oversees the U.S. Forest Service, asked for more resources to contain a seven-acre blaze last month, officials said."
"Undersecretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and Environment Michael Boren, who oversees the U.S. Forest Service, asked agency staff last month to escalate the amount of aircraft at a seven-acre fire that had started near his mega-ranch in Idaho’s Sawtooth National Forest, according to two Forest Service officials familiar with the matter.
Boren, a tech billionaire and Trump appointee, oversees about 200 million acres of national forest and public land. He also owns thousands of acres in Idaho, including the 480-acre Hell Roaring Ranch situated within the Sawtooth National Recreation Area. And before his current role, Boren had clashed with the Forest Service numerous times over the years.
On July 12, what began as an unattended campfire grew into the Cabin Creek Fire, which spread to a few acres on a ridge in the Sawtooth National Forest. While at his ranch, Boren called Forest Service officials in the Sawtooth National Forest at the regional level and national operations in Washington multiple times to question why there weren’t more aircraft battling the fire, according to one Forest Service official with knowledge of the situation. This official, who like several others interviewed for this article spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation, said Boren asked when more assets would arrive. Two other agency officials said he called those offices, including at least once in the middle of the night. "
Brianna Sacks and Andrew Ba Tran report for the Washington Post August 14, 2026.
