Senate considers Michael Boren to lead Forest Service, despite clashing with agency
President Donald Trump's nominee to oversee the U.S. Forest Service has a history of clashing with the very agency that he soon could be leading.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry began the confirmation hearing for Michael Boren, an investment consultant, Idaho ranch owner and founder of a billion-dollar tech company. A bipartisan committee will assess Boren's qualifications and vote on his nomination.
Boren, 62, has had disagreements with the U.S. Forest Service in recent years. One recent conflict involves building a cabin and clearing land within the Sawtooth National Forest near Stanley, Idaho, E&E News reported, citing agency correspondence and individuals familiar with the situation.
He co-founded Boise-based tech company Clearwater Analytics and owns a 480-acre ranch, some of it within the Sawtooth National Recreation Area, according to the Idaho Mountain Express. The work on the property began before Boren was nominated, but the matter has not yet been resolved, according to the publication.
The dispute over the cabin is with Galena Mines, an LLC associated with Boren. He was listed as manager until February of this year, before he was removed.
Other disputes include diverting a stream, disputes over how Boren manages land within and around the national forest and disagreements about the precise locations of mining claims made by Boren's corporation, according to E&E News.
A small airstrip on Boren's ranch also stirred uproar among neighbors who claim he was using it to land small planes before he was granted a conditional-use permit from the Forest Service, according to the report.
Attorney Thomas Balducci, who represented Boren for the 2023 lawsuit regarding the airstrip, declined to provide a comment to ABC News.
Boren's brother, David Boren, has also clashed with the Forest Service over a trail the agency built near his ranch.
When introducing Boren to the committee, Sen. James Risch, R-Ida., addressed the reports of the disputes between the nominee and the Forest Service, saying that people who own "inholdings" -- or privately owned land situated within the boundary of publicly owned or protected area that are common west of the Mississippi River -- typically come into conflict with the federal government.
"Usually, the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) and the Forest Service aren’t happy with the inholdings," Risch said.
Boren said he feels some of the disagreements with the federal government over his inholdings have been "oppressive," accusing the Forest Service of being "aggressive" at some points, but conceding that all parties were able to come to resolutions after initial disputes.
If confirmed as the undersecretary of Natural Resources and Environment, Boren would be responsible for day-to-day operations at the U.S. Forest Service, which manages about 200 million acres of public land. Boren would report to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins.
Boren, a lifelong rancher, has been involved with the Forest Service since he was a child, he told the committee. His father once worked for the agency, and he and his brother spent a summer planting trees for the service, he said.
Boren said he is committed to making forest management more resilient and healthy.
"I feel that I’m uniquely positioned to support the Forest Service in its role," he said, adding that it would be a "blessing" to work for the Forest Service, if confirmed.
Boren also emphasized the importance of producing timber on federal lands to generate revenue for the federal government and income for rural citizens, following Trump's agenda to increase timber production on federal lands.
"I’ve seen first-hand the problems that come with a lack of timber production and the things that happen to rural communities when they lose a timber mill, a lumber mill," he said.
The Senate Agriculture Committee reviews presidential appointments to the Department of Agriculture's cabinet positions. After Tuesday's hearing, a full Senate confirmation will be required to complete Boren's appointment.
Current members of the committee include John Boozman (R-AR), Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN).
Boren was a donor to Trump's 2024 presidential campaign.
On Jan. 16, Trump announced Boren's nomination on his social media platform Truth Social, describing him as "a successful businessman, who has founded six companies."
"Michael will work to reinvigorate Forest Management at a time when it is desperately needed," Trump wrote.
The nomination comes at a time of turmoil within the agency. On April 3, Rollins issued an ordered to remove environmental protections from about 112 million acres of national forests, and thousands of Forest Service employees have been fired in recent months.
Klobuchar said during the committee that she remains "concerned" about the Forest Service's ability to maintain the land, given that about 4,000 positions were cut from the agency -- especially when wildfires like the ones that occurred in Los Angeles at the beginning of the year have the potential to create "unimaginable harm."
"It's a critical time for the forest service," she said.
The Forest Service did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for comment. In a statement to the New York Times, the Forest Service wrote that Boren would "implement President Trump’s America First agenda and ensure our forest system is properly managed, productive, and resilient. We look forward to his swift confirmation by the Senate."
ABC News could not immediately reach a representative for Boren for comment.
