USDA announces intent to open forests to unmanaged off-road vehicles
Hikers in Olympic National Park, Washington
Stephen Matera
Agency also moves to repeal the Roadless Rule, causing chaos and confusion on public lands
(WASHINGTON D.C.) — The USDA announced a Notice of Intent (NOI) to revise its Travel Management Rule (TMR), the agency’s guiding policy on motorized travel on public lands. The revision could lead to opening millions of acres of national forests to unmanaged off-road vehicles (ORVs) - a one-two punch for forests, coming just as the agency moves to repeal the Roadless Rule which protects 45 million acres of our national forests.
Dan Hartinger, senior director for agency policy at The Wilderness Society, made the following statement about the news:
“This is yet another egregious attack in the systematic dismantling of public lands management of our national forests. Travel management provides the basic guardrails that let hikers, hunters, anglers, and riders share the same forest without chaos; removing those guardrails threatens the freedom of all public lands users to safely enjoy our national forests the way they choose. Paired with the proposed repeal of the Roadless Rule, this destructive agenda sells out future generations’ enjoyment of our forests in order to hand them over for corporate profits.”
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The administration recently repealed the executive orders that helped lay the groundwork for travel management, gutting the criteria that ensured ORVs do the least possible damage to landscapes and the wildlife that depend on them. Paired with the proposed TMR revision, this leaves the rules governing where ORVs can and can't travel unclear, putting everyone at risk: motorized user who need certainty, law enforcement officers who need clear directions and land managers who need clear directives.
The NOI triggers a public comment period, which will be posted to the Federal Register soon.
For media inquiries contact: gaby_diaz@tws.org
