Recreation Residences or "Forest Service Cabins" are private residences enabled by the 1915

Occupancy Permits Act The Occupancy Permits Act was passed on March 4, 1915, by the 63rd United States Congress. It allowed the U.S. Forest Service to issue to cabin permits at "reasonable rates" to individuals who had had their property taken through eminent domain. P ...

on land that later became the

US Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands covering of land. The major divisions of the agency are the Chief's ...

. The Recreation Residence Program authorizes the public to construct recreational cabins subject to various permit terms. As of 2014, there are over 14,000 Recreational Residences on Forest Service land and the owners of these residences are represented by the National Forest Homeowners group. Recreation cabins are sometimes misused and have been a source of controversy, but the program was renewed with the passage of 2014 Cabin Fee Act (CFA) as part of the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act. Recreational residence tract

Description

The United States Forest Service Recreation Residence Program is a residential recreation program of the

United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the United States Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 United States National Forest, national forests and 20 United States Natio ...

. The program was established in 1915 to provide summer homes and seasonal recreation cabins to permit holders. The cabins are privately owned and are situated in specially designated tracts; occupants must abide by the rules of a Special Use Authorization permit issued by the Forest Service. Permit holders pay an annual fee for use of the land, and are expected to protect the forest environment and maintain the residences. In the 1950s, the Forest Service stopped giving out permits for building cabins. In 1960, the forest service stopped opening additional tracts of land for the program. Many of the cabins remain in families that pass them down from generation to generation. Some are sold to family friends. Cabin Life newsletter describes the "ins and outs" of having such a cabin, using an example in the

Eldorado National Forest Eldorado National Forest is a U.S. National Forest located in the central Sierra Nevada mountain range, in eastern California. Geography Most of the forest (72.8%) lies in El Dorado County. In descending order of land area the others countie ...

in California that has been owned by the same family for three generations. The legislation for the program was modified in 2010.

Examples

An example includes the

Greenwood Lodge Greenwood Lodge is a Rustic-style log cabin lodge which dates from 1932, in the Arapaho National Forest and Roosevelt National Forest in Grand County, Colorado, in the vicinity of Grand Lake, Colorado, US. It has also been known as Spence Cabin. ...

is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

Includes maps, plans, and 35 photos from 2010. As of 2024, there are currently 272 such residential cabins in the

Lassen National Forest Lassen National Forest is a United States national forest of 1,700 square miles (4,300 km2) in northeastern California. It is named after pioneer Peter Lassen, who mined, ranched and promoted the area to emigrant parties in the 1850s. Overv ...

References

United States Forest Service {{Forestry-stub