The confirmation hearing for Donald Trump’s pick to head the US Forest Service—Michael Boren—kicked off yesterday with the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry to assess the 62-year-old’s qualifications before voting on his nomination. Boren—described by Trump as “a successful businessman” who will be chartered with the responsibility of “reinvigorating Forest Management at a time when it is desperately needed”—has had several disagreements with the Forest Service in recent years, including the building of cabins and clearing of lands within Idaho’s Sawtooth National Forest.
When introducing Boren to the Committee, Senator James Risch, a Republican from Idaho, addressed reports, saying that people who own “inholding” land—or privately owned land within the boundary of publicly owned or protected areas—typically conflict with the federal government.
“Usually, the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) and the Forest Service aren’t happy with the inholdings,” Risch said. In response, 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 undersecretary of Natural Resources and Environment, Boren would be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the US Forest Service, which manages 200 million acres of public land. Boren would report to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins. Boren, a lifelong rancher, told the Committee that involvement with the Forest Service began when he was a child. According to Boren, his father once worked for the agency, whilst his brother spent a summer planting trees for the service:
“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 stressed 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.”
Wood Central understands that the Senate Committee—made up of John Boozman, a Republican from Arizona, Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, and Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat from Minnesota—will need to make a full Senate confirmation before Borean can take his position.
The nomination comes at a time of turmoil within the agency.
In April, Rollins issued an order to remove protections from 112 million acres of national forests, and thousands of employees have been fired in recent months. During the hearing, Klobuchar said 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,” Klobuchar told the Committee.
Yesterday, Wood Central revealed that a leaner and meaner Forest Service was preparing for “a significant wildfire season.” Speaking to Fox News on Friday, Rollins said nonfire staff will be deployed to support frontline firefighters as fire activity increases, allowing for a “more robust, more intentional, and more effective force as we move into this season,” Rollins said. “But we are not going to waste taxpayer dollars the way we’ve seen happen in the past.”
