Memo: “Mad Max” on public lands: How admin is giving ORVs free rein

On May 29, President Trump issued an executive order (EO) repealing two executive orders that for more than 50 years have guided where off-road vehicles (ORVs) and over-snow vehicles (OSVs) can travel on public lands. Together, these orders balanced recreation and conservation by imposing safeguards for soils, vegetation, wildlife habitat and cultural resources while allowing motorized users the freedom to explore routes designated for their use (Utah alone has 80,000 miles of designated ORV trails).  

By rolling back these EOs, the administration is using flimsy justifications, such as changing technology, perceived vagueness of what the orders required and concerns of regulatory burdens on industry, as a pretext to open more public lands to ORV use. The new executive order also signals an intention to potentially open up millions of acres to extractive industry. 

Below is more information on what these orders did, the criteria they established, what the repeal could mean for travel management and why it matters to both motorized and nonmotorized users. 

Executive orders 11644 (1972, Nixon) and 11989 (1977, Carter) established the federal framework for managing ORV use on public lands. Issued in response to the rapid growth of motorized recreation, the orders directed federal land management agencies to regulate—clearly and consistently—where and how ORVs can be used to protect natural and cultural resources, reduce user conflicts and ensure a measure of safety on trails.  

For more than five decades, these orders have guided management decisions across lands overseen by agencies including the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and National Park Service. 

These EOs served as the policy foundation for federal travel management policies, including the U.S. Forest Service Travel Management Rule (USFS TMR). Critically, they set a clear expectation: You can only drive motor vehicles in areas that are specifically marked as open to motorized use, often referred to as the “closed unless designated open” framework. Once routes are designated, any road or area not clearly marked as open to motorized use is considered closed to motorized use. This “closed unless designated open” approach is a core part of the travel management rules. 

To ensure motorized recreation balances access with conservation and public safety, they also require land managers to use “minimization criteria” when designating new motorized routes. These criteria are meant to reduce harm to soil, water, plants and other natural resources; limit disturbance to wildlife and habitat; and reduce conflicts with people who are “quietly” recreating, like hiking, biking and climbing. 

The administration’s recent actions threaten to turn these expectations on their head, making unchecked ORV use the default setting on 392 million acres of public lands. This excludes designated Wilderness areas, which do not allow ORVs. 

While we may not see ORVs ripping through protected areas right away, removing the rules that guide where they can travel could cause serious harm to all recreation users. It could turn shared outdoor spaces into high-risk areas: High speeds, blind corners and unfamiliar terrain puts hikers, hunters, anglers, horseback riders and ORV users at risk of dangerous crashes or close calls. In remote areas, emergency help takes longer to arrive. Every year, hundreds of people die and thousands more are treated in emergency rooms because of ORV accidents, and we could see those numbers increase. 

Beyond these immediate safety concerns, the environmental impacts are also significant. Research on OHV impacts shows that use can compact soil (and prevent water from permeating the ground which increases surface runoff, changing how water moves), damage vegetation, reduce habitat and species diversity, disrupt animal movement and push birds into quieter nesting and breeding areas. Some states, including Colorado, also limit OHV noise to help protect wildlife and human health. 

In the newly issued EO, President Trump is directing federal agencies to rescind or revise regulations linked to these former executive orders, claiming the move will increase access and recreational opportunities. They’re claiming these actions will also remove “barriers to energy and timber production.” 

The USFS TMR is linked to these former EOs. The Forest Service, which manages 193 million acres of public land, is reportedly planning to repeal the USFS TMR, setting the stage for more chaos and confusion on public lands. 

The administration claims existing laws, including the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), already provide enough guidance to manage ORV use on public lands without these orders.  However, as of February 2026, the Department of the Interior—which manages roughly 400 million surface acres of public land—rescinded more than 80% of its internal NEPA procedures to expedite project approvals under Trump’s energy “emergency” executive order.  

This death-by-a-thousand-cuts to NEPA, combined with the proposed rescission of the Roadless Area Conservation Rule and repeal of the BLM Public Lands Rule, along with Forest Service staff and budget cuts are creating a Mad Max scenario and suggests these repeals are aimed more at expanding extractive uses of public lands than improving recreational access.