USDA official pressed Forest Service for extra aircraft to fight small fire near his own ranch

On July 12, 2026, Michael Boren, the USDA Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment who oversees the U.S. Forest Service, called Forest Service operations centers at the regional and national level multiple times to question why more aircraft were not being deployed against the Cabin Creek Fire, a 7-acre blaze that had broken out from an unattended campfire near his 480-acre Hell Roaring Ranch inside Idaho's Sawtooth National Recreation Area. The Forest Service responded with about nine aircraft -- helicopters, air tankers and tactical planes -- at a cost of more than $100,000, with at least some aircraft diverted from other fires burning in Idaho at the time.

Six current and former Forest Service officials told the Washington Post the response was larger, in both scale and cost, than what a fire of that size posing no significant threat to life or property would typically draw. The deployment came while the national fire preparedness level stood at 4 of 5, with dozens of other large uncontained fires competing for the same finite aircraft. The Post reported it had reviewed internal communications corroborating that Boren personally contacted Forest Service staff about the fire, and separately analyzed flight-path data confirming the aircraft response on July 12.

A USDA spokesperson said Boren is "expected to have regular contact with the agencies he oversees" and that he "did report a fire that was near property he owns, just as one would hope any citizen ... would do," while denying he "pressured leadership or ordered more resources." Boren, a Clearwater Analytics co-founder confirmed to the post in a 51-47 Senate vote, had already clashed repeatedly with the Forest Service over his ranch before his confirmation, including building a roughly $1.1 million airstrip on protected land without a permit.

Updates

2026-08-17 — CREW asked USDA's inspector general to investigate Boren's fire-aircraft push [5]

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a complaint asking the USDA Office of Inspector General to investigate Boren's push for additional Forest Service firefighting aircraft on the Cabin Creek Fire near his own ranch. No OIG or congressional inquiry outcome has been reported as of this writing.