Defenders Joins Recreation, Conservation Groups to Unite Towards Forest Service Travel Rule Rollback

The U.S. Department of Agriculture launched a process to significantly revise its Travel Management Rule, which guides the place motorized autos are and aren’t allowed on nearly 200 million acres of nationwide forests and grasslands.

The USDA is proposing to flip the U.S. Forest Service’s longstanding strategy to journey administration on its head, forcing native forests to permit motorized autos in all places apart from locations which might be particularly closed. The present rule requires motorized autos to remain on a delegated system of roads, trails and areas in nationwide forests and grasslands and is a necessary coverage for wildlife conservation, balanced recreation and public security.

This comes immediately on the heels of the USDA’s proposed repeal of the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which might make 45 million acres of distant backcountry forests accessible for clearcut logging, road-building and different growth, unleashing back-to-back blows to our nationwide forests. Combined, these actions are a part of the administration’s systematic dismantling of the foundations and safeguards that preserve nationwide forests secure, accessible and managed for everybody.

Below are quotes from recreation and conservation organizations and extra data on the rule.

“The USDA’s announcement to gut the Travel Management Rule and the Roadless Rule in the same week is a one-two punch that together deals a tremendous blow to wildlife,” stated Vera Smith, director of nationwide forests and public lands at Defenders of Wildlife. “The Travel Management Rule states simply that motorized vehicles must stay on routes and areas designated locally for that use. The Forest Service issued the rule over 20 years ago to curb damage from unmanaged recreation, reduce user conflict and protect public safety. Rescinding it now is irresponsible and reckless.” 

“This is yet another egregious attack in the systematic dismantling of public lands management of our national forests,” stated Dan Hartinger, senior director for company coverage at The Wilderness Society. “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.”

“The Travel Management Rule creates a framework that balances uses on national forest lands. It draws on local decision-making processes to support all user groups in enjoying public lands while also protecting these places for future generations,” stated Anneka Williams, coverage director at Winter Wildlands Alliance. “Removing this framework for shared use threatens diverse user experiences on public lands. Coming on the heels of the proposed repeal of the Roadless Rule, it is clear that this announcement is part of the administration’s broader agenda to dismantle our public lands as we know and love them.”

“The Travel Management Rule is why dirtbikers and snowmobilers can share national forests with hikers and backcountry skiers without conflict,” stated Hilary Eisen, federal coverage director at Wild Montana. “It’s built on local decision-making that ensures no user group gets steamrolled and all our national forest values are protected. Just days after doubling down on repealing the Roadless Rule, this announcement makes the administration’s plan obvious: gut the rules requiring the Forest Service to manage our natural resources carefully and listen to the public, then open the gates to industry and extraction. The Roadless rescission already showed that Forest Service leadership doesn’t value public input, science or expert management. They’ve lost the public’s trust, and should expect the public to hold them accountable.”

“Just after this administration moved to eliminate protections for Roadless Areas, it is now proposing to gut the Travel Management Rule that for 20 years has ensured the Forest Service manages motorized recreation in a manner that minimizes damage, protects other visitors and responds when vehicle use is harming public land resources,” stated Adam Rissien rewilding supervisor at WildEarth Guardians. “Eliminating those protections will not improve access. It would replace locally developed plans with uncertainty, conflict, and unmanaged use.”

“Just days after its proposed rescission of the Roadless Rule, the administration is now attempting to open up our national forests to more off-road vehicle use that will degrade the landscape and disturb wildlife and other land users,” stated Thomas Delehanty, senior legal professional with Earthjustice’s Rocky Mountain Office. “Some places in our national forests are meant for quiet, undisturbed recreation and protecting sensitive wildlife, including endangered species. This rule would open all roads and trails to ORVs by default, meaning areas set aside for hiking, hunting or horseback riding could soon be fair game to four-wheelers and dirt bikes.”

“The Trump administration’s proposal to fundamentally alter the Travel Management Rule will change for the worse how Utahns experience national forests throughout the state, from the Wasatch Front to redrock country outside Escalante and Moab,” stated Laura Peterson, senior legal professional at Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. “The proposal will place a heavy thumb on the scale to prioritize off-road vehicle use at the expense of all other uses of the national forests, including the protection of wildlife, cultural sites, streams and wild places. This move will not improve access to public lands, but it will make the experience of recreating on public lands worse for all users, including hikers, bikers, hunters, anglers and riders.”  

“For over two decades the Travel Management Rule has ensured our national forests are managed to host an array of user groups, while safeguarding the health and future of our public lands,” shared Peggie dePasquale, nationwide forest wildlands director on the Wyoming Wilderness Association. “We are now witnessing a troublesome undoing of this effective management tool that the American people, especially here in Wyoming, have come to rely on for sustainable and relied upon access. It is critical that we raise our voices to send a clear message that the proposed revision goes against public interest and is bad news for the future of our natural world.”

“The existing travel management planning process allows the public to meaningfully weigh in on where vehicles do and don’t belong in our national forests. Repealing this rule hands that decision to political appointees in Washington, who have decided that every road, trail and meadow should be open to motorized use, no matter the conflicts with other users or wildlife,” stated Kate Groetzinger, communications director at Center for Western Priorities. “Repealing this rule is also a recipe for more wildfire in a region that cannot afford it. Putting hot engines deeper into dry forests during longer and hotter fire seasons will increase wildfire risk, and Western communities will pay for it.”

Travel Management is Supported by a Diverse Group of Public Lands Users
This proposal to revise the Travel Management Rule is out of contact with on a regular basis Americans who use our forested public lands. Motorized teams, recreationalists, sportsmen, conservation organizations, native communities and different public land customers nationwide have spoken out in opposition.

About the Forest Service Travel Management Rule 
First established in 2005, the Travel Management Rule is a instrument that goals to stability use on nationwide forest lands and throughout totally different consumer teams and, when successfully applied, creates high-quality recreation experiences for all teams whereas additionally conserving sources. It offers a constant framework for forests to comply with when writing journey administration plans for wheeled or over-snow autos. 

During forest-specific journey administration planning, native forest officers designate particular trails and areas for motorized use. This is basically a zoning course of the place some areas are designated for motorized use, and different trails and areas are put aside for human-powered recreation, or to guard wildlife and different sources. Public participation is a crucial a part of journey planning, and native voices, data and experience are thought-about as a part of the journey planning course of.

Repealed Executive Orders Helped Protect Wildlife, Waters
On June 2, 2026, the Trump administration repealed two government orders (11644 and 11989) that ruled off-road car use on public lands. For 54 years, these orders helped shield streams, wildlife and their habitats and alternatives for secure recreation on Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service lands. 

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