19–006 

112TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 2d Session 112–602 

CABIN FEE ACT OF 2011 

JULY 17, 2012.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of 

the Union and ordered to be printed 

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington, from the Committee on Natural 

Resources, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 3397] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred the 

bill (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, 

having considered the same, report favorably thereon without 

amendment and recommend that the bill do pass. 

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of H.R. 3397 is to modify the Forest Service Recreation Residence Program by implementing a simple, equitable, and 

predictable procedure for determining cabin user fees. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

H.R. 3397 would establish a new schedule for the fees paid by 

owners of private cabins that are located on U.S. Forest Service 

lands. The bill also would establish a transfer fee that would be assessed on owners who sell their cabins. The bill meets the need for 

a fair, simple and predictable structure for setting fees based on 

the actual value received, and will moderate the runaway fee hikes 

occurring under current law. H.R. 3397 will also reduce the administrative burden on the Forest Service and provide a fair return to 

the U.S. Treasury for the use of public land. 

A summer cabin program has existed in National Forests for almost a century, but recent changes in the way permit fees are set 

for these cabins will put them beyond the reach of many cabin owners. The current system for setting fees for ownership of cabins on 

National Forest land does not accurately reflect the value of the 


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limited use-permits involved. A limited and temporary permit is 

not comparable to the rights of fee-simple ownership. Because the 

many restrictions and conditions on the permits are not sufficiently 

considered in the valuations, the fees often go far beyond what average families can afford, forcing many cabin owners to sell or 

abandon their cabins. Appraisals completed recently under the current Cabin User Fee Fairness Act (CUFFA) law indicate 45 percent 

of owners have seen fee increases of 200 percent or higher, 20 percent exceed $5,000, 8.5 percent exceed $7,000 and 3.7 percent exceed $10,000. 

Unfortunately, the current appraisals do not reflect the difference between the bundle of rights held by an owner of fee simple 

property and the very limited rights of Forest Service land cabin 

owners. Cabin fees determined under current law far exceed market rates when compared to similar leased (or permitted) recreation 

land uses. H.R. 3397 would establish rates that more fairly reflect 

true market rates and revenues. 

The bill establishes a nine tiered fee structure, indexed annually, 

that is fair to the cabin owner and the U.S. Treasury and will preserve cabin value or the ability to sell the cabin if the current 

owner cannot pay the fee. Instead of annual fees ranging from $125 

to the clearly unaffordable $76,000 under current law, fees under 

the bill will range from $500 to $4,500 per year. 

The Cabin Fee Act requires the assignment of each permitted lot 

to one of nine fee tiers, based on the rank order of current appraised values. The lowest 8 percent of appraised lot values are assigned to the $500 tier. The highest 4 percent are assigned to the 

$4,500 tier. Following this process, user fee revenue is projected to 

be about $30 million when fully implemented. User fees are to be 

adjusted annually by a rolling average of the Implicit Price 

Deflator for Gross National Product index (See Appendix I). 

A transfer fee, intended to capture the value influence of the National Forest location would be paid when that value influence is 

actually realized at the time of sale. The Transfer Fee has two components. First, a flat fee of $1,000 is collected for all cabin sales 

and transfers. Second, if the sale price exceeds $250,000, an additional 5 percent is collected on the sale price exceeding $250,000 

up to $500,000, and an additional 10 percent on sale amounts exceeding $500,000. 

Cabin marketability is not encumbered, because cabin owners 

will have full knowledge of the indexed annual user fee and both 

a seller and buyer can factor the transfer fee into their negotiations 

at the time of sale. The bill provides cost savings to the Forest 

Service by the elimination of expensive appraisals and the loss of 

the substantial revenue from abandoned cabins that will occur if 

CUFFA stands unchanged. 

With the elimination of the appraisal process under CUFFA, the 

Forest Service will save approximately $1 million annually. The 

complexity and expense of the appraisal process will be replaced 

with a cost-effective fee system and greatly simplified program administration. 


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COMMITTEE ACTION

H.R. 3397 was introduced on November 10, 2011, by Congressman Doc Hastings (R–WA), and was referred to the Committee on 

Natural Resources. On September 9, 2011, the Subcommittee on 

National Parks, Forests and Public Lands held a hearing on a draft 

version of the bill. On November 17, 2011, the Full Resources Committee met to consider H.R. 3397. No amendments were offered, 

and the bill was adopted and ordered favorably reported to the 

House of Representatives by unanimous consent. 

COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII 

of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the Committee on 

Natural Resources’ oversight findings and recommendations are reflected in the body of this report. 

COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII

1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of 

the House of Representatives requires an estimate and a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(2)(B) of that rule provides 

that this requirement does not apply when the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. Under clause 

3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 

section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate for this bill from the 

Director of the Congressional Budget Office: 

H.R. 3397—Cabin Fee Act of 2011 

Summary: H.R. 3397 would establish a new schedule for the fees 

paid to the federal government by individuals who own cabins located on Forest Service lands. The bill also would establish a transfer fee that would be assessed on owners who sell their cabins. 

Based on information provided by the Forest Service, CBO estimates that implementing the legislation would result in a net reduction in offsetting receipts (a credit against direct spending) totaling $25 million over the 2013–2022 period; therefore, pay-as-yougo procedures apply. Enacting H.R. 3397 would not affect revenues. 

H.R. 3397 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) 

and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments. 

Estimated cost to the Federal Government: The estimated budgetary impact of H.R. 3397 is shown in the following table. The costs 

of this legislation fall within budget function 300 (natural resources 

and environment). 

Basis of estimate: For this estimate, CBO assumes that the legislation will be enacted in 2012. 


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By fiscal year, in millions of dollars— 

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2012– 

2017 

2012– 

2022 

CHANGES IN DIRECT SPENDING 

Cabin Fees: 

Estimated Budget Authority ... 0 3 ¥2 * 1 3 5 5 5 5 5 5 30 

Estimated Outlays .................. 0 3 ¥2 * 1 3 5 5 5 5 5 5 30 

Transfer Fees: 

Estimated Budget Authority ... 0 * * * * * ¥1 ¥1 ¥1 ¥1 ¥1 ¥2 ¥5 

Estimated Outlays .................. 0 * * * * * ¥1 ¥1 ¥1 ¥1 ¥1 ¥2 ¥5 

Total Changes: 

Estimated Budget Authority ... 0 2 ¥2 * 1 2 4 4 4 5 5 3 25 

Estimated Outlays .................. 0 2 ¥2 * 1 2 4 4 4 5 5 3 25 

NOTE: Components may not sum to totals because of rounding; * = between ¥$500,000 and $500,000. 

CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 3397 would increase net direct 

spending by $25 million over the 2013–2022 period. Over that period, fees collected from cabin owners by the Forest Service would 

total about $30 million less than would be collected under current 

law (such losses are shown as an increase in direct spending). In 

addition, the collection of newly established fees assessed on cabin 

owners who sell their cabins would increase receipts (thus reducing 

direct spending) by about $5 million over that period. 

Cabin fees 

Section 3 would establish a new schedule for fees assessed on 

cabins located on Forest Service lands. Under current law, owners 

of the roughly 14,000 affected cabins pay an annual fee to the federal government equal to 5 percent of the appraised value of the 

occupied land. Based on information provided by the agency, CBO 

estimates that fee collections from those cabins will total roughly 

$20 million in 2012 and that those collections will increase to $38 

million by 2022. Collections will increase over that period as the 

agency completes appraisals of the affected Forest Service lands, 

implements new fees based on those appraisals, and annually adjusts fees on all cabins to account for inflation. 

Under the bill, cabin owners would pay specified annual fees 

ranging from $500 to $4,500 per cabin, depending on the appraised 

value of the occupied land. Those fees would go into effect after the 

Forest Service completes its current appraisal cycle, which CBO expects will occur in 2013. Once implemented, CBO estimates that 

new cabin fee collections would total about $29 million in 2014 and 

would reach $33 million by 2022. 

Because H.R. 3397 would cap annual cabin fees at $4,500 and 

prevent scheduled fee increases from being implemented as they 

would be under current law, CBO estimates that enacting the bill 

would, in general, lower annual receipts over the 2013–2022 period. 

Over the 2014–2015 period, CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 

3397 would increase receipts because we expect that cabin fees 

would be increased more gradually under current law than under 

the bill over that period. On net, CBO estimates that enacting the 

new cabin fees required under H.R. 3397 would reduce offsetting 

receipts (an increase in direct spending) by about $30 million over 

the 2013–2022 period. 


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Transfer fees 

Section 4 would require the Forest Service to collect a transfer 

fee from cabin owners who sell their cabins. The amount of the fee 

would be based on the sales price. CBO estimates that implementing this provision would increase offsetting receipts (a credit 

against direct spending) by about $5 million over the 2013–2022 

period, based on information provided by the Forest Service regarding the number of new lease permits issued each year and the values of the affected cabins. 

Pay-As-You-Go considerations: The Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act 

of 2010 establishes budget-reporting and enforcement procedures 

for legislation affecting direct spending or revenues. The net 

changes in outlays that are subject to those pay-as-you-go procedures are shown in the following table. 

CBO ESTIMATE OF PAY-AS-YOU-GO EFFECTS FOR H.R. 3397 AS ORDERED REPORTED BY THE 

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES ON NOVEMBER 17, 2011 

By fiscal year, in millions of dollars— 

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2012– 

2017 

2012– 

2022 

NET INCREASE OR DECREASE (¥) IN THE DEFICIT 

Statutory Pay-As-YouGo Impact ............. 0 2 ¥2 0 1 2 4 4 4 5 5 3 25 

Intergovernmental and private-sector impact: H.R. 3397 contains 

no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in 

UMRA and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments. 

Estimate prepared by: Federal Costs: Jeff LaFave; Impact on 

State, Local, and Tribal Governments: Melissa Merrell; Impact on 

the Private Sector: Amy Petz. 

Estimate approved by: Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant Director 

for Budget Analysis. 

2. Section 308(a) of Congressional Budget Act. As required by 

clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, 

this bill does not contain any new budget authority, spending authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in revenues or 

tax expenditures. Based on information provided by the Forest 

Service, CBO estimates that implementing the legislation would result in a net reduction in offsetting receipts (a credit against direct 

spending) totaling $25 million over the 2013–2022 period; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. Enacting H.R. 3397 would not 

affect revenues. 

3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by 

clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or objective 

of this bill is to modify the Forest Service Recreation Residence 

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

EARMARK STATEMENT

This bill does not contain any Congressional earmarks, limited 

tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined under clause 9(e), 


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9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Representatives. 

COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104–4

This bill contains no unfunded mandates. 

PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW

This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or tribal law. 

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

If enacted, this bill would make no changes in existing law. 


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