Top Trump official asked for more aircraft to fight a small fire near his Idaho ranch
New from me (Brianna) at the Post:
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.
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.
Six current and former Forest Service officials said the response was greater than what is typical for a fire of that scale that did not pose a significant threat to life or property
In those calls, according to the Forest Service official with knowledge of the situation, Boren pushed for more aircraft to fight the fire even though “it was easily accessible by ground,” the official said.
He “was on the phone calling people that day asking why there weren’t more resources on the fire and when there was going to be more,” the official said.
Communications reviewed by The Washington Post sent during the response to the blaze corroborate that Boren personally asked Forest Service staff about the Cabin Creek Fire.
In total, about nine aircraft, including helicopters, air tankers and tactical planes, responded to the blaze on July 12, according to a Post analysis of flight paths, part of an effort that lasted a few hours and cost nearly $115,000 in federal money. The Post analysis found that these assets traveled from across the West to Idaho’s Alturas Lake, near where the Cabin Creek Fire was burning. At least some of the aircraft were diverted from efforts to contain fires elsewhere in the state, according to two agency officials and the Post analysis of the flight paths.
More here: https://wapo.st/4wZEqPD