09/16/2026
I’ve been saying that we need to focus on leveling the Travel Management playing field for many years now. This is an opportunity to do just that. PLEASE COMMENT!!! Take action and make a difference!
🚨 7 DAYS LEFT - A MAJOR OPPORTUNITY FOR MOTORIZED ACCESS
The USFS is considering fundamental changes to the 2005 Travel Management Rule—the regulations that have shaped motorized access on our National Forests and Grasslands for more than two decades.
Comments close September 23.
If this sounds somewhat familiar to TPA supporters, it should.
TPA has spent years advocating for Travel Management reform, and earlier this year we testified before Congress in support of the Public Lands Access Restoration Act (PLARA) and restoring a presumption that existing motorized routes are open unless specifically closed.
Now, many of those same fundamental issues are officially on the table.
TPA SUPPORTS:
➡️ A meaningful presumption of access — Existing roads and trails should be presumed open to appropriate motorized use unless closure is legally required or clearly justified.
➡️ Justification and regular review for closures — Restrictions shouldn't become permanent by default.
➡️ Accurate route inventories — Existing and historically used routes shouldn't disappear simply because they were omitted from a map or inventory.
➡️ Connected and expanded riding opportunities — Trail systems should be adequate, functional and connected, with restored connections and appropriate new routes considered.
➡️ Managing recreation instead of concentrating it — Continually shrinking trail systems can push growing numbers of riders onto fewer routes, increasing impacts, congestion and conflicts.
➡️ Modern, site-specific management — The old national "minimization" framework has too often tipped the balance against public access. With the Executive Orders behind that framework now rescinded, it's time to use modern science, technology, and site-specific management to protect resources while providing responsible access.
➡️ Local decision-making and partnerships — Give local managers the flexibility to work with states, communities, and recreation partners who know and help maintain these trail systems.
TPA also supports allowing Class 1 e-bikes on trails already open to traditional bicycles, subject to applicable law and justified site-specific restrictions.
NOW WE NEED RIDERS TO SHOW UP.
You don't need to be a policy expert.
Tell the USFS where you ride, what access you've lost, why connected trail systems matter, what stewardship work you've done, and why responsible access to our National Forests matters to you.
TPA has also created a customizable comment template to make it easy to get started. Please personalize it and tell your own story.
👇Links to our template and the comment portal are in the comments.
COMMENTS CLOSE SEPTEMBER 23.
Maintaining trails is critical. But we also have to protect and improve the policies that determine whether those trails remain accessible in the first place.
This is what advocacy looks like.
In fact, this one hits particularly close to home for TPA.
The Trails Preservation Alliance was formed in 2008, in part as a response to the original Travel Management Rule and the threat it posed to motorized access. For nearly two decades, protecting meaningful motorcycle access through Travel Management has been central to our mission.
Now, the Forest Service is considering rewriting that rule.
So when we say we've spent years working toward an opportunity like this, we mean it.
Let's make the most of it.
