Amid record wildfire season in Oregon, top Trump official at USDA diverted scarce firefighting resources to a 7 acre fire near his private ranch in Idaho
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Finance, Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, and Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, today demanded answers from the Trump administration following reports that U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Undersecretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and Environment, Michael Boren, diverted federal firefighting resources away from active wildfires, in order to fight a seven acre fire near his personal ranch in Idaho.
“Mr. Boren’s actions constitute potentially a misuse of taxpayer funds and put American families at further risk by diverting scarce resources from high-priority wildfires threatening communities elsewhere in the region and country,” the Senators wrote in their letter to USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins. “We request a full investigation into the nature and extent of Boren’s involvement in response to the Cabin Creek Fire and a detailed accounting of the safeguards the agency has implemented or plans to implement to prevent political interference and conflicts of interest in wildfire response.”
Earlier this month, it was reported that Mr. Boren used his position to pressure U.S. Forest Service personnel to divert already scarce firefighting resources away from other fires to suppress a small fire near his 480-acre ranch in the Sawtooth National Forest.
Nine aircraft were reportedly assigned to the fire, an extremely high number for a fire of this size. Oregon is already facing a shortage of firefighting personnel and resources as a direct result of the Trump administration’s staffing and funding cuts. During this record setting fire season, fires of much larger size threatening the lives and homes of Oregonians have not received even a fraction of the same commitment of resources.
In their letter, the senators requested details on how the Department would prevent similar interference by administration officials for personal gain in the future, and requested the findings of a Department investigation of the incident be provided to the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, and the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
The full letter is here.
A web version of this release is here.
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