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U.S. Forest Service Proposes Changes to the Travel Management Rule

what Trail Users Need to Know

The U.S. Forest Service is proposing changes to the Travel Management Rule, the policy that determines where motorized vehicles are allowed on National Forest lands.

For many of us, the appeal of a trail is the experience itself. Whether it’s hiking, trail running, mountain biking, horseback riding, or simply enjoying a quieter place to recreate, the way a trail is managed plays a big role in that experience.

How those decisions are made is now under review, and here’s what you need to know as a trail user.

What is the Travel Management Rule?

The Travel Management Rule is the policy the U.S. Forest Service uses to determine where motorized vehicles are allowed within National Forests.

Today, motorized vehicles are only allowed where the Forest Service has designated roads and trails as open. The proposed revision would flip that approach, making roads and trails open to motorized use unless they’re specifically designated as closed.

What this means for you, the trail user on Forest Service lands:

  • The flip: Nonmotorized trails (hiking, biking, skiing, equestrian) could open to motorized use unless staff affirmatively reviews and closes them — reversing the current burden of proof.
  • Increased user conflict: Mixing motorized vehicles with human-powered recreation raises significant safety concerns and degrades the quiet user experience we seek on the trail.
  • Gutted environmental considerations: The “minimization criteria” protecting wildlife, soils, and water quality would be rescinded, with no clear replacement.
  • Reduced public input: Individual trail/road reclassifications will no longer require public comment.
  • New off-route travel policy: A national policy could authorize off-route motorized use, risking further landscape fragmentation.
  • Staff burden: Local districts would need to review and justify closures route-by-route, straining resources already stretched by maintenance backlogs.
Read the full rule revision & submit comments here

Why is it being revised?

According to the Forest Service, these revisions are intended to simplify the travel management process, give local land managers more flexibility, and better respond to changing recreation needs and local conditions.

The proposal would not immediately open roads or trails to motorized use. Instead, it would change the process the Forest Service uses when reviewing existing travel plans and making future decisions about where motorized recreation is allowed.

Because of that, trail and conservation organizations are concerned that roads and trails currently managed for non-motorized recreation, could be redesignated for motorized use in future travel planning. Further incursions into the forest would degrade trail conditions, further splinter wildlife habitat and fundamentally alter the quiet, peaceful time in nature that many of us are seeking.

Learn more & read the proposal

If you’d like additional background or perspectives on the proposal, here are a few links to check out:

Submit your comments

The Forest Service is currently accepting public comments as part of the rulemaking process.


Comment deadline: September 23, 2026

Comment here
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