[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 106 (Tuesday, September 12, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8408-S8410]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  CABIN USER FEE FAIRNESS ACT OF 1999

  Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, soon the Senate will take up S. 1938, the 
Cabin User Fee Fairness Act of 1999. It is designed to set a new course 
for the Forest Service in determining fees for forest lots on which 
families and individuals have been authorized to build cabins for 
seasonal recreation since the early part of this century.
  In 1915, under the Term Permit Act, Congress set up a program to give 
families the opportunity to recreate on our public lands through the 
so-called recreation residence program. Today, 15,000 of these forest 
cabins remain, providing generation after generation of families and 
their friends a respite from urban living and an opportunity to use our 
public lands.
  These cabins stand in sharp contrast to many aspects of modern 
outdoor recreation, yet are an important aspect of the mix of 
recreation opportunities for the American public. While many of us 
enjoy fast, off-road machines and watercraft or hiking to the 
backcountry with high-tech gear, others enjoy a relaxing weekend at 
their cabin in the woods with their family and friends.
  The recreation residence programs allows families all across the 
country an opportunity to use our national forests. This quiet, 
somewhat uneventful program continues to produce close bonds and 
remarkable memories for hundreds of thousands of Americans, but in 
order to secure the future of the cabin program, this Congress needs to 
reexamine the basis on which fees are now being determined.
  Roughly twenty years ago, the Forest Service saw the need to 
modernize the regulations under which the cabin program is 
administered. Acknowledging that the competition for access and use of 
forest resources has increased dramatically since 1915, both the cabin 
owners and the agency wanted a formal understanding about the rights 
and obligations of using and maintaining these structures.
  New rules that resulted nearly a decade later reaffirmed the cabins 
as a valid recreational use of forest land. At the same time, the new 
policy reflected numerous limitations on use that are felt to be 
appropriate in order keep areas of the forest where cabins are located 
open for recreational use by other forest visitors. Commercial use of 
the cabins is prohibited, as is year-round occupancy by the owner. 
Owners are restricted in the size, shape, paint color and presence of 
other structures or installations on the cabin lot. The only portion of 
a lot that is controlled by the cabin owner is that portion of the lot 
that directly underlies the footprint of the cabin itself.
  At some locations, the agency has determined a need to remove cabins 
for a variety of reasons related to ``higher public purposes,'' and 
cabin owners wanted to be certain in the writing of new regulations 
that a fair process would guide any future decisions about cabin 
removal. At other locations, some cabins have been destroyed by fire, 
avalanche or falling trees, and a more reliable process of determining 
whether such cabins might be rebuilt or relocated was needed. It was 
determined, therefore, that this recreational program would be tied 
more closely to the forest planning process.
  The question of an appropriate fee to be paid for the opportunity of 
constructing and maintaining a cabin in the woods was also addressed at 
that time. Although the agency's policies for administration of the 
cabin program have, overall, held up well over time, the portion 
dealing with periodic redetermination of fees proved in the last few 
years to be a failure.

  A base fee was determined twenty years ago by an appraisal of sales 
of ``comparable'' undeveloped lots in the real estate market adjacent 
to the national forest where a cabin was located. The new policy called 
for reappraisal of the value of the lot twenty years later--a trigger 
that led to initiation of the reappraisal process in 1995.
  In the meantime, according to the policy, annual adjustments to the 
base fee would be tracked by the Implicit Price Deflator (IPD), which 
proved to be a faulty mechanism for this purpose.

[[Page S8409]]

Annual adjustments to the fee based on movements of the IPD failed 
entirely to keep track of the booming land values associated with 
recreation development.
  As the results of actual reappraisals on the ground began reaching my 
office in 1997, it became clear that far more than the inoperative IPD 
was out of alignment in determining fees for the cabin owners.
  At the Pettit Lake tract in Idaho's Sawtooth National Recreation 
Area, the new base fees skyrocketed into alarming five-digit amounts--
so high that a single annual fee was nearly enough money to buy raw 
land outside the forest and construct a cabin. Meanwhile, the agency's 
appraisal methodology was resulting in new base fees in South Dakota, 
in Florida, and in some locations in Colorado that were actually lower 
than the previous fee.
  At the request of the chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture 
in 1998, the cabin owners named a coalition of leaders of their various 
national and state cabin owner associations to examine the methodology 
being used by the Forest Service to determine fees. It became obvious 
to these laymen that analysis of appraisal methodology and the 
determination of fees was beyond their grasp, and a respected 
consulting appraiser was retained to guide the cabin owners through 
their task. The report and recommendations of the coalition's 
consulting appraiser is available from my office for those who might 
wish to examine the details. This legislation reflects the coalition's 
consulting appraiser's report and comments from the Administration and 
the appraiser they hired to review their appraisal process.
  This is highly technical legislation. Its purpose is to send a clear 
set of instructions to appraisers in the field and a clear set of 
instructions to forest managers to respect the results of appraisals 
undertaken to place value on the raw land being offered cabin owners. 
Additionally, the purpose of this legislation is to ensure that the 
cabin program continues long into the future, that it provides a fair 
return to the taxpayers, and continues to generate a profit for the 
Treasury.
  I ask unanimous consent that the section-by-section analysis for S. 
1938 be entered into the Record following this statement.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                      Section-by-Section Analysis


                              sec. 1 title

       This Act may be cited as the ``Cabin User Fee Fairness Act 
     of 2000''


                            sec. 2 findings

       Current appraisal procedures for determining recreation 
     residence user fees have, in certain circumstances, been 
     inconsistently applied in determining fair market values for 
     cabin lots demonstrating the need for clarification of these 
     provisions.


                            sec. 3 purposes

       The purposes of the Act are 1) to ensure that the National 
     Forest System recreation residence program is managed to 
     preserve the opportunity for individual and family-oriented 
     recreation and 2) to develop a more consistent procedure for 
     determining cabin user fees, taking into consideration the 
     limitations of an authorization and other relevant market 
     factors.


                           sec. 4 definitions

       This section defines the terms ``agency'' ``authorization'' 
     ``base cabin user fee'' ``cabin'' ``cabin owner'' ``cabin 
     user fee'' ``caretaker cabin'' ``current cabin user fee'' 
     ``lot'' ``natural, native state'' ``program'' ``Secretary'' 
     ``tract'' ``tract association'' and ``typical lot''


         sec. 5 administration of recreation residence program

       To the maximum extent practicable, the Secretary will 
     determine a cabin user fee for owners of privately owned 
     cabins, authorized to be built on National Forest land, that 
     reflects the market value of the cabin lot and regional and 
     local economic influences.


                           sec. 6 appraisals

       The Secretary will establish an appraisal process to 
     determine the market value of a typical lot or lots at a 
     cabin tract. Section 6 describes the unique characteristics 
     of the lots authorized for use under the Forest Service 
     recreation residence program, and the characteristics of 
     parcels of land sold in the private sector that might 
     appropriately provide comparable market information for 
     purposes of determining market value.
       As a first step, the Secretary will complete an inventory 
     of existing improvements to the cabin lots in the program to 
     determine whether these improvements were paid for by the 
     agency, by third parties, or by the cabin owner. Improvements 
     paid for by the cabin owner (or his predecessor) are not 
     included in the market value. There is a rebuttable 
     presumption that improvements were paid for by the cabin 
     owner or his predecessor.
       The Secretary will contract with an appropriate appraisal 
     organization to manage the development of specific appraisal 
     guidelines. An appraisal shall be performed by a State-
     certified general real estate appraiser in compliance with 
     Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice, 
     Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal Land Acquisitions, 
     and specific appraisal guidelines developed in accordance 
     with this Act.
       Reappraisal for the purpose of recalculation of the base 
     cabin user fee shall occur not less often than once every 10 
     years.


                         sec. 7 cabin user fees

       To determine the annual base cabin user fee, the Secretary 
     shall multiply the market value of the cabin lot by 5 
     percent. This calculation reflects restrictions imposed by 
     the permit, including the limited term, absence of 
     significant property rights, and the public's right of access 
     to, and use of, any open portion of the forest lot upon which 
     the cabin is located.
       If the Secretary decides to discontinue use of a lot as a 
     cabin site, payment of the full base cabin user fee will be 
     phased out in equal increments over the final 10 years of the 
     existing authorization. If the decision to eliminate the 
     authorization for use as a cabin lot is reversed, the cabin 
     owner may be required to pay any portion of fees that were 
     forgone as a result of the expectation of termination.
       The cabin owner's fee obligation terminates if an act of 
     God or catastrophic event makes it unsafe to continue 
     occupying a cabin lot.


               sec. 8 annual adjustment of cabin user fee

       The Secretary shall adjust the cabin user fee annually, 
     using a rolling 5-year average of a published price index 
     that reports changes in rural or similar land values in the 
     State, county, or market area in which the lot is located. An 
     adjustment to the fee may not exceed 5 percent per year, but 
     the amount of adjustment exceeding 5 percent shall be carried 
     forward for application in the following year or years.
       At the end of the initial 10-year period, the Secretary has 
     the option to choose a different index if it is determined 
     that this index better reflects change in the value of a 
     cabin lot over time.


                   sec. 9 payment of cabin user fees

       A cabin user fee shall be prepaid annually by the cabin 
     owner. If the increase over the current base cabin user fee 
     exceeds 100 percent, payment of the increased amount shall be 
     phased in over three years.


                   sec. 10 right of second appraisal

       On receipt of notice from the Secretary of the 
     determination of a new base cabin user fee, the cabin owner 
     may obtain a second appraisal at the cabin owner's expense. 
     The Secretary shall determine a new base cabin user fee that 
     is equal to the base cabin user fee determined by the 
     initial appraisal or the second appraisal, or within that 
     range of values.


              sec. 11 right of appeal and judicial review

       The Secretary shall grant the cabin owner the right to an 
     administrative appeal of the determination of a new base 
     cabin user fee. A cabin owner that is adversely affected by a 
     final decision of the Secretary may bring a civil action in 
     United States district court.


             sec. 12 consistency with other law and rights

       Nothing in this Act limits or restricts any right, title, 
     or interest of the United States in or to any land or 
     resource. The Secretary shall not establish a cabin user fee 
     or a condition affecting a cabin user fee that is 
     inconsistent with the Alaska National Interest Lands 
     Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 3193(d)).


                          sec. 13 regulations

       The Secretary shall promulgate regulations to carry out 
     this Act within 2 years of the date of enactment.


                     sec. 14 transition provisions

       The Secretary may complete the current appraisal process in 
     accordance with the policy in effect prior to enactment of 
     this Act.
       For annual cabin fees conducted on or after September 30, 
     1995 but prior to promulgation of regulations required under 
     this Act, the Secretary shall temporarily charge an annual 
     cabin user fee as determined by appraisals occurring since 
     September 30, 1995, provided that the amount charged shall 
     not be more than $3,000 greater than the cabin user fee in 
     effect on October 1, 1996, as adjusted for inflation.
       In the absence of an appraisal conducted on or after 
     September 30, 1995, the Secretary shall continue to charge 
     the annual cabin user fee in effect on the date of enactment 
     of this Act until a new fee is determined under the new 
     regulations and the right of the cabin owner to a second 
     appraisal is exhausted.
       Not later than 2 years after promulgation of final 
     regulations, cabin owners who received a new appraisal after 
     September 30, 1995, but prior to promulgation of new 
     regulations under this Act, may request a new appraisal or 
     peer review of the existing appraisal. Such request must be 
     made by a majority of the cabin owners in a group of cabins 
     represented in the appraisal process by a typical lot.
       Peer review will be conducted by an independent 
     professional appraisal organization. If peer review 
     determines that the earlier appraisal was conducted in a 
     manner inconsistent with this Act, such appraisal may be

[[Page S8410]]

     revised accordingly, or subject to an agreement with the 
     cabin owners, a new appraisal and fee determination may be 
     conducted.
       Cabin owners and the Secretary shall share, in equal 
     proportion, the payment of all reasonable costs of any new 
     appraisal or peer review.
       For annual cabin user fees capped by an increase of $3,000, 
     if the new appraisal or peer review resulted in a cabin fee 
     that is 90% or more of the appraisal conducted on or after 
     September 30, 1995 but prior to the promulgation of 
     regulations under this Act, the Secretary shall charge the 
     cabin owner the unpaid difference between those two appraised 
     cabin fees in three annual equal installments.
       In the absence of a request for a new appraisal or peer 
     review, the Secretary may consider the base cabin user fee 
     resulting from the appraisal conducted after September 30, 
     1995, to be the base cabin user fee in accordance with this 
     Act.

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