History of MHFHA - Mt. Hood Forest Homeowners Association

HomeHistory of MHFHA

Mt. Hood has just under 550 cabins that sit on National Forest Land. If you own one of these precious gems, you are part of a unique, national program called the "Recreation Residence Program" that started in 1915 with the "Term Occupany Act of 1915" - read the act here: Term Occupancy Act of 1915 . In the peak of this national program there were over 20,000 cabins across the USA and now there are just under 14,000. To read more about the history of the cabin program click here History of Cabin Program

Mt Hood has the largest number of USFS Cabins under one District Ranger. Mt Hood Forest Homeowners Assocation (MHFHA)was formed in 1992 to help cabin owners understand the program, share information on dealing with the many rules and regulations of the Recreational Residence Program as well as provide information, contacts, tips etc about owning a USFS cabin. MHFHA was instrumental in the recent passage of CFA (Cabin Fee Act) that stopped the appraisal process of setting our annual permit fees. CFA was lead by NFH and the C2 foundation which worked tirelessly for 8 years to get legislation to change to the current tier that sets our annual fees. For more information on the legislation that was passed in December of 2014 click here CFA Passes Congress! Mt Hood cabins owners raised and donated over $30,000 to go towards this monumental effort.

MHFHA is run by an elected Board of Directors - 11 total, all of whom are cabin owners. We meet 5 times per year and are proud of many past accomplisments such as a collaborative relationship with the Zigzag Ranger District personnel, summer garbage service, Forest Watch Program, cabin road maintenance and repair, website management, newsletters, email blasts from the USFS as well as our organization, updated list of recommended local service providers, weekly snow reports posted on our website each winter as well as other sponsored workshops and events.

We hold an annual meeting each summer on the mountain with many various speakers from the USFS as well as outside the USFS that pertain to owning a USFS Cabin.

Out website has information for the public but most of the information is for members only. We have easy assess to many forms and manuals that the USFS provides on their website. We have members only assess to snow reports; security issues and discussions; local service providers; maps, evaluations and history of all 10 tracts that make up Mt Hood cabin program as well as forums for cabin owners to discuss issues amongst themselves.

Here is an article found in the Oregonian in December of 1981 about the hidden "cottages" on Mt Hood - the permit fee was only $400! Oregonian article

MHFHA fully supports the only national program that advocates for all 14,000 cabins in this program on the national level. National Forest Homeowners (NFH) consists of a board of 15 directors who are cabin owners across the USA and meet frequently with USFS heads in Washington DC. They have a "seat at the table" where decisions are made regarding the cabin program. MHFHA is a NFH member tract and although dues are optional, we highly recommend every cabin owner join both local (MHFHA) and national (NFH). For more information on NFH please click here www.nationalforesthomeowners.org

CLICK HERE to see a lovely power point that USFS Historian Allie Wenzl put together on the 10 tracts that make up Mt Hood cabin program. Allie presented this at a NFH annual conference a few years ago.