The U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service announced internal guidance about future e-bike use that will be helpful to rangers and forest supervisors.
The guidance is intended to clarify existing policy, according to a March 31 USDA Forest Service news release issued. The guidance will be especially important to local Forest Service employees who may be thinking about e-bike expansion at site-specific locations.
"National forests and grasslands are a place for all people to recreate, relax and refresh," Forest Service Chief Randy Moore said in the release. "The additional guidance will help our district rangers and forest supervisors better serve their communities with a policy that allows managers to make locally based decisions to address e-bike use.This growing recreational activity is another opportunity to responsibly share the experience of the outdoors with other recreationists."
The Forest Service already allows e-bikes on its roads that are open to motorized vehicles, according to the service's Statement on Electric Bike Use. The Forest Service maintains more than 60,000 miles of motorized trails, which make up 38 percent of all trails that the service manages. E-bike use is reportedly growing in popularity.
The finalized internal guidance will allow e-bikes to continue on those currently-authorized roads and trails while laying out a process for future request evaluation with an eye toward expanded access, the release said.
"The updated guidance also outlines the required environmental analysis and public input required before making future decisions to expand local e-bike access," the news release said.
Two other federal land management agencies, U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service, also allow e-bike use on 18,000 miles and 16,000 miles of trails respectively.
The Forest Service's e-bike policy is available on its website.
