Tech billionaire tapped for head of Forest Service cleared national land to make room for private airstrip: 'Illegally operating an airport'

The man in line to lead the U.S. Forest Service has "clashed" with the agency for years over private use of public lands, the New York Times reported.

On Tuesday, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry held a confirmation hearing to discuss the appointment of Michael Boren, per ABC News.

Boren is an Idaho ranch owner and founder of a billion-dollar tech company — and he's had more than one run-in with the Forest Service in recent years as well as confrontations with residents who have objected to his activities.

In 2015, Boren purchased his Hell Roaring Ranch, located in the Forest Service-managed Sawtooth National Recreation Area.

Boren's run-ins with the Forest Service and locals typically revolved around claims of his "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," ABC explained.

However, the Times focused on a controversy involving Boren's installation of a "private air strip" in what the outlet described as "a national recreation area." Boren allegedly operated a helicopter "dangerously close to a crew building a Forest Service trail" in 2020 — earning him a caution from the agency and leading officials to obtain a restraining order.

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Dave Coyner was one of the workers on the crew during the helicopter incident. "We saw this helicopter less than 100 feet off the ground, and it started coming toward us. They were definitely trying to intimidate us," he recalled.

"To hear that he's being nominated to be undersecretary of the Forest Service, that just blows me away," Coyner said. The Times linked to a 2021 editorial in the Post Register written by a retired search and rescue operative Gary Gadwa.

"Michael Boren, a multimillionaire from Boise, is illegally operating an airport in the Sawtooth Valley without permits," Gadwa wrote. He called on Idaho residents to "halt this dangerous precedent, which threatens one of the most beloved wilderness areas in our state."

Boren sued Boise-based Jon Conti for discussing the controversy on YouTube, and Conti was largely reluctant to comment on the broader controversy. "The Sawtooths are the last wild frontier, really untouched, and I think that most Idahoans would like to see it stay that way," Conti remarked, per the Times.