NFH Advocacy: Permits, Retained Fees, and other Cabin Issues
Advocacy is a foundational part of the NFH mission. We advocate on behalf of all recreation residence cabin owners. We meet annually with elected officials in Congress and more frequently with all levels of the Forest Service.
| | From our inception in the 1980's, NFH has been a national voice for the Recreation Residence Program. Our NFH Government Liaison Committee is composed of board members and other volunteers and leads our oversight and agenda for national advocacy. Along with the NFH Board of Directors, this committee follows happenings in Washington, D.C., generates position papers (below) and contributes to strategic initiatives for the protection and sustainability of the cabin program nationwide. | | 
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| |  | | NFH encourages members and cabin associations to advocate for local issues on their forests. Successful advocacy relies upon collective voices. Organizing with your neighbors in local cabin associations is beneficial and areas with a high concentration of cabins have formed regional associations.
To get involved and help us win positive steps to support permit holders, look for our current calls to action. | |
| | Current Calls to Action | | | |
| | Retained Fees
Advocacy (2023-2025)
LEARN MORE | | Starting in 2025,all permit fee monies collected in this special use program are to be "retained" by the Forest Service and spent on administering the Recreation Residence Program and other recreation programs on National Forest System lands. NFH is working to ensure that these fee monies are spent as the law intended. Last year, we advocated by engaging in dialog with national Forest Service leaders on priorities for the monies and encouraging local leaders to contact their Forest Supervisors with suggested spending priorities for the retained fee monies.
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| | Cabin Program Restoration Act Advocacy (2024)
LEARN MORE
| | When the Forest Service
released a new version of the special use permit for the Recreation Residence
Program in 2023, multiple areas were changed that eroded permit-holder rights.
At the same time, nationally, the program has been losing cabins for a range of
reasons, including growing wildfire impacts. NFH is working on introducing
legislation in Congress to restore the program, rectify negative changes, and
enable a sustainable cabin program. | |
| | Past Calls to Action | | | |
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Impaired Access Fee Adjustment
Advocacy (2023-2024)
archived READ FINAL
RULE (9/6/24) | | Going back to the Cabin Fee Act implemented in 2015, the law prescribed that the Forest Service would implement a rule regarding fee reductions when access is restricted or impaired beyond the permit-holder's control. Update Sept 2024: The final rule has been posted to the Federal Register. We will submit final comments, but the final rule will not be changed as a result of any further comments. | |
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