12 Days of Legal Updates: Our Fight to Expand Access With E-Bikes

This past year has been nothing short of transformational for the movement to expand responsible access across America’s public lands. Nowhere is that momentum clearer than our community’s fight to open trails for Class 1 e-bikes. BlueRibbon Coalition and its supporters helped secure wins in Oregon, Nevada, Utah, and Georgia, along with driving progress on national-level policy reform— proving how powerful coordinated grassroots advocacy can be.

Most recently, on December 8th, we were thrilled to learn that Deschutes National Forest approved opening 161.4 miles of existing bike trails to Class 1 e-bikes, a decision supported by hundreds of BRC members who submitted comments in April urging the Forest Service to adopt the full proposal.

This capped off earlier victories including:

• Opening 211 miles of Moab’s world-class trail systems—one of the largest single expansions of e-bike access in federal history.
• Opening Nevada’s stunning 47-mile Lamoille Summit Trail System to e-bikes
• Approving full e-bike access on all bicycle-approved trails within the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area
  

Together, these wins represent a growing national shift toward recognizing e-bikes as a legitimate, low-impact, inclusive recreation tool.

Why E-Bike Access Matters

E-bikes, particularly Class 1 bikes, have emerged as one of the most effective tools for expanding outdoor access. They are a vital access tool for older riders, people with physical limitations, and families with young children who want to recreate together. These bikes expand access while maintaining the spirit of non-motorized trail use. 

Class 1 e-bikes are low-powered, pedal-assist bikes with no throttle and limited speeds, making them appropriate for shared-use trails without degrading the user experience. This offers an accessible, low-impact way to enjoy the outdoors. 

Access on public trails is currently mismanaged through a combination of conflicting permissions and restrictions in a policy environment that creates uncertainty and liability for e-bike users and the e-bike economy. Outdated and inconsistent policies ban e-bikes on far too many trails, even when they pose no greater impact than conventional bikes. This hodgepodge of policies is no way to manage access to our public lands.

A Win for E-Bike Access in Oregon’s Deschutes National Forest

In April, BRC issued a call to action asking our members to submit comments supporting the full 161 miles of bike trails in Oregon’s Deschutes National Forest being opened to Class 1 e-bikes. Hundreds of our supporters submitted comments asking the Forest Service to approve the full 161.4 miles, which comprises 67 existing bike trails such as Peterson Ridge, Phil’s Trail, Wanoga, and Sunriver. Thanks to all supporters who submitted comments, the USFS announced on December 8th that the full mileage of the trail system would be opened up to Class 1 e-bikes.

A Landmark Win in Moab

When the BLM first proposed allowing Class 1 e-bikes in Moab, the agency recommended opening only 114 miles of the region’s 211 miles of non-motorized biking trails. These trails represent some of the most iconic riding terrain in the world, and expanding access would provide life-changing opportunities for older riders, families, and those with physical limitations.

As we do best, BlueRibbon Coalition launched a comprehensive public involvement campaign to open all trails to Class 1 e-bikes.

Thousands of BRC supporters submitted comments through our system. We also broadened participation by hosting a sweepstakes for a Bakcou Scout e-bike to raise awareness within a community that hasn’t had a proper seat at the table. And it worked.

When the final decision was released, the BLM expanded access dramatically, opening almost all of the 211 miles of the analyzed trails to Class 1 e-bikes. These include legendary systems such as:

• Klonzo
• Klondike Bluffs
• Navajo Rocks
• Horsethief
• Amasa Back
• Gemini Bridges
• Moab Brands
• Raptor Route (Hawks Glide, Falcon Flow, Kestrel Run)

…and many more.

This stands as one of the largest single expansions of e-bike access on federal land to date.

A Win for Nevada’s Lamoille Summit Trail Network

Earlier this year, BRC and our supporters mobilized to support the BLM’s proposal to allow for e-bikes on Nevada’s Lamoille Summit Trail System, a 47-mile multi-use single track network between Elko and Spring Creek, Nevada.  Hundreds of our supporters chimed in to support the expanded access. 

In August, the Bureau of Land Management finalized the approval of the proposal to allow Class 1 e-bikes on the trails. The decision opens this stunning high-desert and forested trail network to pedal-assist bikes wherever traditional bicycles are permitted, aligning the management of e-bikes with existing non-motorized rules.

This approval marks a significant expansion of recreation access in northeastern Nevada, offering thousands of riders—including older adults, people with mobility challenges, and families—new opportunities to explore this scenic system. The decision reflects a growing recognition by the BLM that Class 1 e-bikes are a low-impact, inclusive, and equitable way to broaden public land access without compromising trail conditions or the experiences of other users.

BRC thanks the BLM for its thoughtful evaluation and all members and partners who submitted comments in support of this proposal. This outcome reinforces the effectiveness of grassroots advocacy in shaping recreation policy on public lands and continues the momentum toward greater, well-managed e-bike access nationwide.

A Win for Georgia’s Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area

The Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area in Georgia completed a multi-year planning effort to expand bicycle access through its Comprehensive Trails Plan, which identified more than twenty miles of trails suitable for bicycle—and potentially e-bike—use. As part of this process, the National Park Service proposed allowing e-bikes everywhere traditional bicycles are permitted, aligning the park with the agency’s nationwide e-bike policy.

In 2024, BlueRibbon Coalition submitted formal comments in support of the proposal and mobilized members to reinforce the importance of ensuring that all newly designated bicycle trails should also be open to Class 1 e-bikes.

At the start of 2025, the Superintendent’s Compendium was formally amended to reflect this approach, confirming that e-bikes are authorized on every trail open to bicycles within the recreation area. This action completes the planning process, affirms BRC’s role in shaping the outcome, and secures full pedal-assist access across the Chattahoochee River NRA.

Taking the Fight National: Petition to Reinstate Secretarial Order 3376

While these were regional victories, we also recognized the need for national-level policy that brings clarity and consistency to e-bike management across federal lands.

Earlier this year, we submitted a formal Administrative Petition to the Department of the Interior urging reinstatement of Secretarial Order 3376, originally issued in 2019.

The 2019 Order provided a modern, uniform framework for managing e-bikes across:

• The National Park Service
• The Bureau of Land Management
• The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
• The Bureau of Reclamation

It established a clear three-class system for e-bikes, authorized Class 1 e-bikes anywhere traditional bicycles were allowed (unless restricted for resource protection) and maintained site-specific authority for local land managers. It created consistency where previously there had been a patchwork of rules.

When the Order was rescinded in 2021, that consistency disappeared. Management became fragmented, leading to confusion, delays, and fewer opportunities for riders who depend on e-bikes for access.

Our petition argues that reinstating the 2019 framework is not only lawful and practical, it is in the overwhelming public interest. It highlights how e-bikes support accessibility for seniors and individuals with disabilities, environmental stewardship, the economic health of gateway communities, and the broader push toward more inclusive recreation.

If the agency initiates rulemaking or reissues a new directive modeled on Secretarial Order 3376, it will represent the clearest, most predictable e-bike policy since the technology first emerged.

Of course we would also like to see the U.S. Forest Service adopt a similar policy.

Momentum for the Future

The trail expansions and our national administrative petition together mark a tipping point in a year in which meaningful progress was not theoretical but real, measurable, and visible on the ground.

We will continue defending these decisions, pressing for reinstatement of a clear national framework, and advocating for expanded e-bike access across the country.

The momentum is undeniable. Public lands are beginning to reflect the needs of the people who use them. Not just a select few, but everyone who seeks connection, health, freedom, and exploration.

And if this past year has shown anything, it’s that this movement is only getting started.