Special Uses - Recreation Residence

The Forest Service Recreation Residence program gives private citizens the opportunity to own a single-family, non-commercial use cabin in designated areas on the national forests. They are commonly called "summer homes" or "recreation cabins" and originated in the early 1900s under the authority of the 1915 Occupancy Permits Act. There are more than 13,000 recreation residences permitted across the United States on 114 different National Forests in 24 different states. These privately owned cabins are located within formally established tracts on lots designated for that purpose and are authorized and administered under the terms and conditions of a special use authorization permit. The individual owns the improvements but not the land and no new lots have been available to establish new recreation residences for well over 60 years. The permit requires the payment of an annual land use fee based upon fair market value of the land, not including improvements.