Trump wants to open nearly all national forest trails to dirt bikes and ATVs

The Trump administration's Forest Service has proposed flipping its Travel Management Rule so that trails, two-tracks and roads are open to off-highway vehicles by default, unless specifically closed. Currently the reverse is true: trails are closed to motorized use unless designated open, under exhaustive forest-by-forest management plans.

The USDA says the change will boost recreation access and simplify regulations, but conservation groups, backcountry horsemen and sportsmen's organizations warn it could devastate sensitive ecosystems. Wild Montana's Hillary Eisen called the Forest Service's announcement vague and poorly written, warning motorized users could end up anywhere interpretable as a trail.

A restoration project on Montana's Middle Fork Judith River illustrates the stakes: unmanaged vehicle crossings had reduced fish populations to under 10% of expected levels before a coalition, including off-highway vehicle groups, rebuilt riverbanks and cut crossings by 80%, restoring fish numbers. Watershed manager Chris Edgington says a blanket rule change threatens exactly the kind of site-specific management that made that recovery possible. Public comment on the proposal closes September 23.

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