A wealthy Idaho businessman and rancher who President Trump put in charge of the U.S. Forest Service illegally built a cabin on remote Forest Service land in Idaho, critics claim.
Michael Boren crossed the line by “building a piece of shit cabin” in the remote Germania Creek area on the Sawtooth National Forest, public-lands advocate Aaron Murphy told Cowboy State Daily on Friday.
“It’s an eyesore,” added Murphy, the Montana-based executive producer for American Hunters & Anglers, a public-lands advocacy group.
The cabin was built in 2024. That same year the Forest Service area ranger ordered the cabin demolished and the site reclaimed, but it is still there.
Boren was tapped by Trump in 2025 as undersecretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and Environment, which has direct oversight of the Forest Service. Boren took office in January.
A request for comment from Boren’s office wasn’t answered by press time.
‘Come at me, Bro.'
The controversy over the cabin has set off a war of words.
An unnamed Department of Agriculture spokesperson called American Hunters & Anglers’ claims about Boren and the cabin “maliciously false and therefore libelous,” High Country News reported.
Murphy told Cowboy State Daily that his group isn’t backing off and wants the cabin gone.
“I would challenge Boren, 'Come at me, bro,’” he said.
Misplaced Site?
The crux of the matter is an 1883 mining claim, held by Galena mines, which Boren managed until last year. It would be considered private property and therefore a legitimate building site for a privately owned cabin.
However, the original survey of the claim was done “according to landmarks" and therefore wasn’t accurate, according to American Hunters & Anglers.
GPS surveys conducted by the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management indicate that the mining claim is actually roughly a mile south of the cabin site, according to agency documents obtained by American Hunters & Anglers.
However, private surveys conducted in 2004 and 2020 indicate that the mining claim is, in fact, where the cabin sits.
A 2024 letter from then Forest Service area ranger Kirk Flannigan to Galena Mines states that the cabin sits on Forest Service land and should be removed.
Flannigan has since left the Forest Service and now serves as the Blaine County, Idaho, administrator. He did not respond by publication time to a request for comment.
Jake Strohmeyer was the Sawtooth National Forest supervisor at the time the cabin was built. He has also since left the agency for a position with the Idaho Department of Lands and did not respond by publication time to a request for comment.
Disrespect for the Public?
The Department of Agriculture spokesperson said the cabin was built by backcountry skiers on private land for public use, High County News reported.
Murphy said the cabin is 12 miles up an extremely rugged road and probably wouldn’t be easily accessible to skiers.
He and a colleague recently visited the site, Murphy said.
The cabin appears to be unused, and the site is “trashy,” he said.
There are no windows, and although a doorway has been cut into one wall, “there is a piece of plywood screwed in place over the doorway,” he said.
American Hunters & Anglers will continue pressing to have the cabin removed out of principle, he said.
“It (the cabin site) smacks of pure arrogance. It’s the ‘haves,’ who think they own the land, against the ‘have-nots,’ who really do own the land,” Murphy said.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
