The USFS Wants to Alter the Travel Management Rule

Now to translate these rule changes into what that will actually mean, you have to understand what the Travel Management Rule does first.

Local forest managers need a framework to determine where motorized vehicles can drive within national forests. This ruling is designed to maintain access while preventing excess erosion, water pollution, and habitat destruction.

The rule requires every national forest to have a designated transportation system that specifies where motorized vehicles can be based on forest wildlife and resources, maintenance needs, and conflicts with other recreational uses. It also requires that the public be allowed to participate in the planning process for designating roads, trails, and other areas for motorized use.

Additionally, the ruling demands every national forest publish a Motor Vehicle Use Map and Over-Snow Vehicle Use Map to show designated areas where it is allowed or not allowed to drive motorized vehicles. Motorized vehicles can only drive off these designated areas in prescribed situations.

The ruling was finalized in 2005. Before that there was no consistency and little constraint on motorized use in national forests. Motorized vehicles could drive through sensitive habitats like wetlands, fish-bearing streams, and other fragile ecosystems without repercussions. Without clear maps or rules, even well-intentioned off-road users were unable to determine where they should or shouldn’t drive their vehicles, and USFS law enforcement officers had no means to hold bad actors accountable.

Currently, the USFS is seeking comments to form an environmental impact statement (EIS). The proposed draft of that is expected in the spring of 2027, with a final ruling in early 2028.

The changes they are proposing include establishing a national presumption that unless closed, all existing roads and trails are appropriate to public use unless justified by other circumstances.

It prompts each national forest to annually identify closed or restricted routes and access points that might warrant reconsideration but would not require them to consider areas where closures may be necessary. The chances would also remove the current nationwide criteria used by the USFS to minimize damage to watersheds, vegetation, soil, and other habitat disturbances, as well as wildlife harassment and recreational conflicts.

On a more granular level, the changes would replace the current requirement to identify a “minimum road system” with an “adequate and appropriate” transportation system and streamline requirements for changing travel designations, potentially including changes to existing public participation, governmental coordination, and monitoring.

It also seeks to establish processes for limited off-route motorized use for activities such as downed big-game retrieval, firewood collection, and dispersed camping. While that might sound appealing at first glance, the implementation of specialized use like this would be difficult to enforce and could lead to more off-route traffic in fragile environments.

Finally, it would remove e-bikes from motor vehicle classification. So any trails where bicycles are allowed, e-bikes would be too.

Importantly, the USFS recently repealed the regulation that requires public input and engagement on the majority of its projects. Without the travel management rule, which in its current state, explicitly requires public participation on travel management decisions, there is no guarantee that the public will know of or be able to engage in decisions regarding the future of motorized vehicles on public lands.

The comment period just opened today, August 24, and will be open for 30 days. Click here to leave your comment.

In the meantime, if you’re using motorized vehicles on public lands, the rules haven’t changed yet.

“The motorized community needs to step up and regulate itself, or we’re going to lose access in the long run,” CEO of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers Ryan Callaghan cautioned. “Ride responsibly; travel management is still in place. Get your Motor Vehicle Use Map out and go have fun.”