Program created to help keep an eye on forest land The program was designed in the late 1890s to entice city residents into the newly created national forests. The hope was they would be the eyes and ears of the Forest Service, helping give the agency a heads up on fires or other problems in the little-used lands, said Joni Packard, regional coordinator of the Recreational Residence Program. Some families traveled great distance on rough roads in primitive vehicles to build small cabins. The one-year permit allowed at the time made cabin construction a risky investment, and the program was only marginally successful, according to a history by the National Forest Homeowners, a lobbying group of cabin owners. That changed in 1915, when Congress passed a law allowing the agency to give multi-year permits. The change spurred growth in the program because the cabins could be passed through inheritance to family members or sold, with the Forest Service retaining the underlying land. At its peak, the program authorized about 20,000 cabins. Approximately 5,500 cabins were later taken out of private ownership through land exchanges, Forest Service policy changes or loss....