Associated Press & Erin Maxson
 
April 16, 2009
 
MEDFORD, Ore. -- A federal law is requiring the U.S. Forest Service to have new appraisals of cabin properties across the nation.
 
The federal government is acting on a bill passed back in 2000 requiring national forest land that private cabins sit on to be reappraised.
 
The new appraisals will affect 14,000 recreation residences on national forestland. The Oregon-Washington region has the second-highest concentration of these cabins in the nation. In all, the two state have 2,800 residences on national forestland.
 
Some cabin owners will see a dramatic rise in fees because some appraisals are decades old. Permit fees will be set at 5 percent of the raw land value as decided by local market information.
 
The fees will begin in 2011 and be phased in over three years.
 
"We will enact this in 2011 so they've gotten a heads up, 'here's your appraisal, this is what the lot was appraised at. This is what your new fee is and its changed from 10 years ago'," says Patty Burrell with USFS.
 
The rental fees started in the 1940's for about $10. In the 1960's a standard five-percent fee was established. 10 years ago, the range for the rental fee was between $500 and $1,300. Once enacted in 2011, the 2008 appraised fees range from $1,200 to $2,700.