Forest Service Approves Small Tract Act Application For Purchase Of Lands In The Los Padres National Forest

The Forest Service recently approved an application for purchase of lands in the Los Padres National Forest upon which an adjacent landowner had erroneously constructed a cabin in the 1950s.  The current owner of the cabin was able to demonstrate that the cabin had been erroneously constructed within the National Forest based on erroneous surveys which showed that the land was part of a 20-acre parcel owned by the landowner.  The party which constructed the cabin became aware of the possible encroachment in the 1970s, at which time the agency expressed an interest in selling the land to the cabin owner.  Until that could be accomplished, the agency issued the cabin owner a special use permit authorizing the cabin’s presence on the National Forest.  For reasons not disclosed in the documents on file, a sale was never accomplished.  When the current cabin owner began efforts to sell the 20-acres and cabin, the issue arose and precluded a sale.  Through the diligent work of the Los Padres National Forest staff, an application to sell the property under the cabin was finally approved.  At this point, the land will be appraised so that the sale can be completed.