History of Cabin Program - Mt. Hood Forest Homeowners Association

HomeHistory of Cabin Program

A SHORT HISTORY OF THE CABIN PROGRAM

1891 Forest Reserves Created - Forest Reserve Act of 1891
1897 Organic Administrative Act of 1897 Established occupancy and use - annual permits fee of $5/year min.
1905 Forest Service created
1915 Term Occupancy Act of 1915 Authorized summer home permits up to 30 years in term; minimum annual fee $10
1965 Chief of the Forest Service issues mmoratorium on creation of new RR tracts
1968 Height of the program had 20,000 Recreation Residence cabins
1976 Chief expands moratorium to include development of new lots within existing tracts
1988 Adoption of Revised Recreation Residence Policy - appealed & withdrawn
1994 Recreation Residence Policy finalized - cabins recognized as "valid use" of forest lands
2019 Fewer than 14,000 cabins remain in this national program

What is the Forest Reserve Act?

The Forest Reserve Act of 1891 allowed the President to set aside forest from land in the public domain as forest reserves. The name "forest reserves" was later changed to "national forests".
Theodore Roosevelt used this act to create many national forests. By the end of his presidency, over 103 million more acres of forest were protected. "The American had but one thought about a tree, and that was to cut it down. "The United States Forest Service was first managed under the Department of the Interior, but was later switched to the Department of Agriculture, because of Gifford Pinchot's belief that forests should be managed as a crop.
Roosevelt said, "Not to preserve forests because they are beautiful-though that is a good idea in itself-not to preserve them because they are refuges for the wild creatures of the wilderness-though that too is a good in itself. We should preserve them to guarantee a steady and continuous supply of timber, grass and above all, water."

USA Regional Map

Mt Hood has approximately 547 cabins. We are part of Region 6 with the USFS. Below are the approximate number of cabins in each Forest Service Region throughout the United States including Puerto Rico.

Region 1: Northern Region 851 Cabins Region 2: Rocky Mountain Region 745 Cabins Region 3: Southwestern Region 674 Cabins Region 4: Intermountain Region 1329 Cabins Region 5: Pacific SW Region 6161 Cabins Region 6: Pacific NW Region 2677 Cabins Region 8: Southern Region 417 Cabins Region 9: Eastern Region 763 Cabins Region 10: Alaska Region 14 Cabins
Puerto Rico 3 Cabins

Where are the Cabins?
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In all 9 Regions

in 98 of 122 National Forests

in 291 of 653 Ranger Districts

100 have fewer than 10 cabins
94 have 11-40 cabins
53 have 41 - 100 cabins
44 have 100+ cabins

Mt Hood has the largest number of cabins under one Ranger District