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Lake Wenatchee Leased Property Owners Take Note

Owners of cabins at Lake Wenatchee that sit on U.S. Forest Service leased land might want to pay attention to current action that the National Park Service is considering at Lake Roosevelt. The NPS is studying whether or not to terminate leases on 26 vacation cabins on government land at the lake.
As many folks have heard, the USFS is expected to raise the leases on Lake Wenatchee cabins to $15,000 or more based on appraisals and sales of nearby property.
Let’s do the math. $150-200,000 cash payment for the cabin, $15,000 a year in leases = no equity? It doesn’t really make sense does it?
I really think consideration should be given to Mark Moburg’s idea that he floated in the online comments of the Wenatchee World.
My family has had a cabin on leased land on the North Shore since the late 1800’s or early 1900’s, plus two others on land we own. My great aunt owns the original family place now, and at 107 years old, there’s no way she can afford $15 or 20 thousand a year.   
While it might have made sense for the Gov’t to lease the land 100 years ago in order to “keep it as natural as possible,” as far as Lake Wenatchee goes that train has left the station. It’s a ridiculous justification in view of Kahler Glen, Stellerwood, Whispering Pines, and all the McMansions lining the lake. Time to move on.
The time has come for the Forest Service to explore the possibility of selling these properties at market value, with current leaseholders having the right of first refusal. The article states that there are 45 cabins on leased land. Assuming (and I know it’s a big assumption) that they’re lakefront, and based on current prices for properties on the lake, these cabins would sell for around $750,000. Times 45 is over $33 million that the Forest Service could use, perhaps to buy large tracts of old-growth timber or other environmentally-sensitive land.
 
 

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