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Article: Forest Service Cabin Owners Raise Roof; Bills to Overhaul Appraisal System Could Wipe Out Revenue From Higher Fees
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- March 27, 2000
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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David Mead's patch of paradise is a rustic cabin his family built
25 years ago atop a steep slope in the Sawtooth National Forest in
Idaho.
For years, the vacation home came at a bargain price--just $390 a
year for the half-acre lot. That changed in 1996, when a new
appraisal hiked Mead's fee to $2,500, although a second appraisal
brought it down to $1,750.
Still, the fees are bringing howls of protest from many of the
15,200 cabin owners on Forest Service land in 25 states. They are
backing bills that would overhaul the Forest Service appraisal system
and keep the fees roughly where they were before the new appraisals
began.
"Some of our cabin owners have already bailed out," Mead told a ...