Daily Weird News Report
Three Democratic senators are calling for an investigation into whether a senior US Forest Service official improperly influenced the response to a wildfire burning near his private ranch in Idaho.
Michael Boren, the Agriculture Department’s undersecretary for natural resources and environment, has been accused of contacting Forest Service personnel several times in mid-July about the Cabin Creek Fire. According to Forest Service officials cited by The Washington Post, Boren questioned why more aircraft were not being used against the blaze.
The fire began on July 12 after an unattended campfire and spread across several acres in Idaho’s Sawtooth National Forest. It was fully contained by July 15 and ultimately burned seven acres. The Post reported that six current and former Forest Service officials considered the response unusually extensive for a fire that posed no significant threat to life or property. Communications reviewed by the newspaper reportedly showed that Boren personally contacted agency staff.
Boren reportedly owns a 480-acre ranch in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area, near the fire. The senators—Ron Wyden, Amy Klobuchar and Martin Heinrich—said in a letter to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins that they were seriously concerned Boren may have used his government position to obtain additional firefighting resources for the incident while larger fires elsewhere received less support.
They requested a full investigation into Boren’s involvement, along with an accounting of safeguards intended to prevent political interference and conflicts of interest in wildfire decisions. They also asked the Agriculture Department to explain by September 10 how it would prevent similar concerns in the future.
The department did not respond to the senators’ letter, according to The Guardian. In an earlier statement, however, a USDA spokesperson said Boren was expected to maintain regular contact with agencies under his supervision. The spokesperson said Boren reported a fire near his property as any resident facing a wildfire threat might do, but denied that he pressured agency leaders or ordered additional resources for the blaze.
The senators described the alleged conduct as a possible misuse of taxpayer funds and warned that diverting scarce resources could place communities threatened by more serious wildfires at greater risk. No finding that Boren improperly directed resources has been reported in the supplied material; the matter remains the subject of a requested investigation.
