I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3397 

To modify the Forest Service Recreation Residence Program by implementing 

a simple, equitable, and predictable procedure for determining cabin 

user fees, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 10, 2011 

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington (for himself and Mr. SIMPSON) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To modify the Forest Service Recreation Residence Program 

by implementing a simple, equitable, and predictable procedure for determining cabin user fees, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Cabin Fee Act of 2011’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Definitions. 

Sec. 3. Cabin user fees. 


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Sec. 4. Cabin transfer fees. 

Sec. 5. Right of appeal and judicial review. 

Sec. 6. Consistency with other law and rights. 

Sec. 7. Regulations. 

1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) AUTHORIZATION; AUTHORIZE.—The terms 

4 ‘‘authorization’’ and ‘‘authorize’’ mean the issuance 

5 of a special use permit for the use and occupancy of 

6 National Forest System land by a cabin owner under 

7 the Recreation Residence Program. 

8 (2) CABIN.—The term ‘‘cabin’’ means a pri9 vately built and owned recreation residence and re10 lated improvements on National Forest System land 

11 that— 

12 (A) is authorized for private use and occu13 pancy; and 

14 (B) may be sold or transferred between 

15 private parties. 

16 (3) CABIN OWNER.—The term ‘‘cabin owner’’ 

17 means— 

18 (A) a person authorized by the Secretary 

19 to use and to occupy a cabin; and 

20 (B) a trust, heir, or assign of a person de21 scribed in subparagraph (A). 

22 (4) CABIN TRANSFER FEE.—The term ‘‘cabin 

23 transfer fee’’ means a fee that is paid to the United 


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1 States on the transfer of a cabin between private 

2 parties for money or other consideration that results 

3 in the issuance of a new permit. 

4 (5) CABIN USER FEE.—The term ‘‘cabin user 

5 fee’’ means an annual fee paid to the United States 

6 by a cabin owner in accordance with an authoriza7 tion for the use and occupancy of a cabin. 

8 (6) CURRENT APPRAISAL CYCLE.—The term 

9 ‘‘current appraisal cycle’’ means the completion of 

10 Forest Service review and acceptance of— 

11 (A) initial typical lot appraisals; or 

12 (B) second appraisals, if ordered by cabin 

13 owners and approved by the Forest Service. 

14 (7) CURRENT CABIN USER FEE.—The term 

15 ‘‘current cabin user fee’’ means the most recent 

16 cabin user fee, as adjusted under section 3(c). 

17 (8) LOT.—The term ‘‘lot’’ means a parcel of 

18 National Forest System land on which a person is 

19 authorized to build, use, occupy, and maintain a 

20 cabin. 

21 (9) NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM.—The term 

22 ‘‘National Forest System’’ has the meaning given 

23 that term in section 11 of the Forest and Rangeland 

24 Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 

25 U.S.C. 1609). 


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1 (10) RECREATION RESIDENCE PROGRAM.—The 

2 term ‘‘Recreation Residence Program’’ means the 

3 Recreation Residence Program established under the 

4 last paragraph under the heading ‘‘FOREST SERV5 ICE’’ in the Act of March 4, 1915 (16 U.S.C. 497). 

6 (11) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

7 means the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through 

8 the Chief of the Forest Service. 

9 (12) TYPICAL LOT.—The term ‘‘typical lot’’ 

10 means a cabin lot, or group of cabin lots, in a tract 

11 that is selected for use in an appraisal as being rep12 resentative of, and that has similar value character13 istics as, other lots or groups of lots within the tract. 

14 SEC. 3. CABIN USER FEES. 

15 (a) PAYMENT OF CABIN USER FEES.—Cabin owners 

16 shall pay an annual cabin user fee established by the Sec17 retary in accordance with this section. 

18 (b) INITIAL CABIN USER FEES.— 

19 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall es20 tablish initial cabin user fees in accordance with this 

21 subsection. 

22 (2) ASSIGNMENT TO VALUE TIERS.—On com23 pletion of the current appraisal cycle, as required by 

24 paragraph (4), the Secretary shall assign each perVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:17 Nov 11, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3397.IH H3397

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1 mitted lot on National Forest System land to 1 of 

2 9 tiers based on the following considerations: 

3 (A) Before assigning the lots to tiers, all 

4 appraised lot values shall be adjusted, or nor5 malized, for price changes occurring after the 

6 appraisal, in accordance with the National As7 sociation of Homebuilders/Wells Fargo Housing 

8 Opportunity Index. 

9 (B) Second appraisal values that meet 

10 Forest Service standards for approval shall su11 persede initial lot appraisal values for the nor12 malization and ranking process under subpara13 graph (A). 

14 (C) The tiers shall be established, on a na15 tional basis, according to relative lot value, with 

16 lots having the lowest adjusted appraised value 

17 assigned to tier 1 and lots having the highest 

18 adjusted appraised value assigned to tier 9. 

19 (D) The number of lots (by percentage) as20 signed to each tier is contained in the table set 

21 forth in paragraph (3). 

22 (E) Data from incomplete appraisals may 

23 not be used to establish the fee tiers under this 

24 subsection. 


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1 (F) Until assigned to a tier under this 

2 paragraph, the Secretary shall assess (and may 

3 adjust annually subject to clause (ii)) an in4 terim fee for permitted cabin lots (including lots 

5 with incomplete appraisals) in an amount equal 

6 to the lesser of— 

7 (i) $4,500; or 

8 (ii) the amount of the current cabin 

9 user fee, as determined under the Cabin 

10 User Fee Fairness Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 

11 6201 et seq.), which amount the Secretary 

12 may increase annually by not more than 

13 25 percent, except that the increased fee 

14 shall not exceed the otherwise scheduled 

15 fee determined under the Cabin User Fee 

16 Fairness Act of 2000. 

17 (3) AMOUNT OF INITIAL CABIN USER FEES.— 

18 The initial cabin user fees, based on the assignments 

19 under paragraph (2), are as follows: 

Fee Tier Approximate Percent of 

Permits Nationally Fee Amount 

Tier 1 8 percent $500 

Tier 2 16 percent $1,000 

Tier 3 20 percent $1,500 

Tier 4 20 percent $2,000 

Tier 5 12 percent $2,500 


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Fee Tier Approximate Percent of 

Permits Nationally Fee Amount 

Tier 6 8 percent $3,000 

Tier 7 6 percent $3,500 

Tier 8 6 percent $4,000 

Tier 9 4 percent $4,500 

1 (4) DEADLINE FOR COMPLETION OF CURRENT

2 APPRAISAL CYCLE.—Not later than 3 years after the 

3 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 

4 complete the current appraisal cycle. 

5 (5) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The initial cabin user 

6 fees required by this subsection shall take effect be7 ginning with the first calendar year beginning after 

8 the completion of the current appraisal cycle. 

9 (c) ANNUAL ADJUSTMENTS OF CABIN USER FEE.— 

10 Once initial cabin user fees have been assessed, based on 

11 the tier assignments under subsection (b)(2), the Sec12 retary shall use changes in the Implicit Price Deflator for 

13 the Gross Domestic Product published by the Bureau of 

14 Economic Analysis of the Department of Commerce, ap15 plied on a 5-year rolling average, to assess an annual ad16 justment to cabin user fees. 

17 (d) EFFECT OF DESTRUCTION, SUBSTANTIAL DAM18 AGE, OR LOSS OF ACCESS.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall reduce 

20 the cabin user fee to $100 per year for a cabin if— 


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1 (A) the cabin is destroyed or suffers sub2 stantial damage in an amount that is greater 

3 than 50 percent of replacement cost of the 

4 cabin; or 

5 (B) access to the cabin is significantly im6 paired, whether by catastrophic events, natural 

7 causes, or governmental actions, which results 

8 in the cabin being rendered unsafe or unable to 

9 be occupied. 

10 (2) TERM OF REDUCED FEE.—The reduced fee 

11 under paragraph (1) shall be in effect until the later 

12 of— 

13 (A) the last day of the year in which the 

14 destruction or impairment occurs; or 

15 (B) the date on which the cabin may be 

16 lawfully reoccupied and normal access has been 

17 restored. 

18 SEC. 4. CABIN TRANSFER FEES. 

19 (a) PAYMENT OF CABIN TRANSFER FEES.—In con20 junction with the transfer of ownership of any cabin and 

21 the issuance of a new permit, the cabin owner transferring 

22 the cabin shall file with the Secretary a sworn statement 

23 declaring the amount of money or other value received, 

24 if any, for the transfer of the cabin. 


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1 (b) AMOUNT.—As a condition of the issuance by the 

2 Secretary of a new authorization for the use and occu3 pancy of the cabin, the cabin owner transferring the cabin 

4 shall pay to the Secretary a cabin transfer fee in an 

5 amount determined as follows: 

Consideration Received by Transfer Transfer Fee Amount 

$0 to $250,000 $1,000 

$250,000.01 to $500,000.00 $1,000 plus 5 percent of consideration in excess of $250,000 up to 

$500,000 

$500,000.01 and above $1,000 plus 5 percent of consideration in excess of $250,000 up to 

$500,000 plus 10 percent of consideration in excess of $500,000. 

6 (c) INDEX.—The Secretary shall use changes in the 

7 Implicit Price Deflator for the Gross Domestic Product 

8 published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis of the De9 partment of Commerce, applied on a 5-year rolling aver10 age, to determine and apply an annual adjustment to the 

11 cabin transfer fee threshold amounts set forth in the table 

12 contained in subsection (b). 

13 SEC. 5. RIGHT OF APPEAL AND JUDICIAL REVIEW. 

14 (a) RIGHT OF APPEAL.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any action 

16 of a cabin owner to exercise rights in accordance 

17 with section 6, the Secretary shall by regulation 

18 grant to the cabin owner the right to an administra19 tive appeal of the determination of a new cabin user 


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1 fee, fee tier, cabin transfer fee, or whether or not to 

2 reduce a cabin user fee under section 3(d). 

3 (2) APPLICABLE LAW.—An appeal under para4 graph (1) shall be pursuant to the appeal process 

5 provided under subpart C of part 251 of title 36, 

6 Code of Federal Regulations (or a successor regula7 tion). 

8 (b) JUDICIAL REVIEW.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—A cabin owner that contests 

10 a final decision of the Secretary under this Act may 

11 bring a civil action in United States district court. 

12 (2) VENUE.—The venue for an action brought 

13 before the United States district court under this 

14 subsection shall be in the Federal judicial district in 

15 which the cabin is located or the permit holder re16 sides. 

17 (3) EFFECT ON MEDIATION.—Nothing in this 

18 Act precludes a person from seeking mediation for 

19 an action under this Act. 

20 SEC. 6. EFFECT. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act limits or re22 stricts any right, title, or interest of the United States in 

23 or to any land or resource. 

24 (b) SPECIAL RULE FOR ALASKA.—In determining a 

25 cabin user fee in the State of Alaska, the Secretary shall 


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1 not establish or impose a cabin user fee or a condition 

2 affecting a cabin user fee that is inconsistent with 1303(d) 

3 of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act 

4 (16 U.S.C. 3193(d)). 

5 SEC. 7. REGULATIONS. 

6 Not later than December 31, 2012, the Secretary 

7 shall issue regulations to carry out this Act. 

Æ 


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