Forest Service Hiking Trails Under Threat by Travel Management Rule and Roadless Rule Proposals

August 27, 2026

 

In a double whammy to hikers and trail users, the Forest Service is proposing a repeal of the 2001 Roadless Rule (Link to Comment) and drastic revisions to the 2005 Travel Management Rule (Link to Comment). 

Taken together these proposals could upend over 50 years of precedent and access that hikers have relied on across National Forests. 

 

Flipping the Script: The Threat of the Travel Management Rule 

The Travel Management Rule was put in place to ensure long-term sustainable use by motorized and non-motorized recreationists, de-escalate user conflicts, and minimize the potential negative consequences of such use including impact to wildlife, watersheds, fisheries and other recreational uses of our national forests. 

 

Proposal potentially opens the flood gates for motorized use on non-motorized trails.

 

While the Notice of Intent (NOI), a fancy way of saying the announcement,  maintains parts of the framework of the Travel Management Rule, reversing the presumption use flips the TMR on its head. The Travel Management rule was built upon fifty years of established standards. The rule relies on a standard that trails are closed unless designated as open. The proposed revisions would flip this to open unless explicitly closed for all new trails and an annual review of trails that are closed to motorized use. 

 

For any trail user, this means the trails you and your family have enjoyed and stewarded for half a century could be opened to unintended uses—putting your safety at risk and forever changing your experience in nature. 

 

This proposal would open a Pandora's box of devastating consequences for all user groups, both motorized and non-motorized. This would reopen old wounds and ignite new issues related to user conflict, visitor safety and pose challenges to the maintenance of trails by volunteers and partners. 

 

The Forest Service must reject this 'open unless designated closed' proposal in the final rule. 

 

Proposal Could Limit Public Engagement

The NOI to the Travel Management Rule raises questions about continued public participation in the decision making process. The Notice of Intent indicates that minor, clerical changes, or iterative adjustments would no longer be subject to a public review process, and that only “substantive” changes would need to go through environmental reviews like NEPA or other reviews that afford the public an opportunity to engage. A proposed rule must define minor, clerical changes, or iterative adjustments in ways that do not exclude the public from decisions that impact trail access or use type determinations. 

 

For example, would a use change that opens access to motorized use for a 1-mile stretch of trail at the trailhead of a 20-mile long trail be “substantive” if it only impacts five percent of a total trail length despite the impact to all non-motorized users?

 

Removing Mandatory Safety & Environmental Protection Rules without a Clearly Defined Alternative

 

The longstanding minimization criteria ensures that the forest planning teams consider important issues beyond merely user needs or desires when making route designation. These include impact on the environment, wildlife, conflict mitigation between user groups and vehicle classes, and conditions on the ground. When applied objectively, these criteria have worked over the years to shield the agency from challenges of arbitrary decision making. 

 

Modification or replacement of these criteria through a “nationally applicable access policy” must ensure that the underlying purpose of the criteria can still be achieved. 

 

E-bike Permissions Need Further Clarification

Additional information and a clear indication that e-bike use should continue to be made on a site specific basis is needed. 

 

Roadless Rule Proposed Rule

 

The proposed rollback elimination of the 2001 Roadless Rule jeopardizes nearly 45 million acres of undeveloped backcountry forestland managed by the U.S. Forest Service, comprising around a third of the territory in our national forest system. These forests have only remained intact because of the Forest Service's nearly 25-year-old commitment not to build roads in these areas for harmful activities like major logging operations or oil-and-gas drilling.

 

Based on data provided by AllTrails and Outdoor Alliance, over 25,000 miles of trails and 5,651 trail routes across 37 states, would be at risk with the rescission of the Roadless Rule. In the last year alone nearly three million hours were spent recreating on these trails. 

 

Protected roadless areas have offered abundant outdoor recreation opportunities such as hunting, fishing, camping or other activities. Large sections of the Continental Divide, Pacific Crest, Arizona, and Appalachian National Trails traverse protected roadless areas.  

 

What hikers, horseback riders, and the trails community can do

Hikers and all trail users are encouraged to make their voices heard by submitting comments on both the Travel Management Rule (Submit here by September 23, 2026) and the Roadless Rule (Submit here by October 6, 2026- Deadline Extended). 

 

American Hiking Society will be submitting comments and providing additional resources to the trails community over the coming days and weeks.

 

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Travel Management Rule Comment Submission 

(Deadline September 23, 2026)

 

Click Here to Submit a Comment for the Travel Management Rule

COPY AND PASTE THE MESSAGE BELOW

REJECT THE OPEN UNLESS DESIGNATED CLOSED PROPOSAL FOR TRAILS.

 

As a hiker and supporter of American Hiking Society I am calling on the Forest Service to reject the proposed open unless designated closed proposal in the Travel Management Rule Notice of Intent.

 

[IN YOUR OWN WORDS ADD WHY PROTECTING HIKING TRAIL ACCESS IS IMPORTANT TO YOU, HIGHLIGHT YOUR FAVORITE TRAIL AND WHAT A CHANGE IN PERMITTED USE WOULD MEAN BY OPENING YOUR FAVORITE TRAIL TO MOTORIZED ACCESS. 

 

OUR INTENT IS NOT TO MAKE THIS A MOTORIZED VS. NONMOTORIZED ISSUE. WE ASK COMMENTS NOT CRITICIZE MOTORIZED USERS AND INSTEAD FOCUS ON THE INDIVIDUAL IMPACT TO YOU. MANY MEMBERS OF THE MOTORIZED COMMUNITY ALSO SUPPORT THE PRESERVATION OF THE CURRENT RULE]

 

The Travel Management rule was built upon fifty years of established standards. The rule relies on a standard that trails are closed unless designated opened. The proposed revisions would flip this to open to motorized vehicles unless explicitly closed for all new trails and an annual review of trails that are closed to motorized use. 

 

As a hiker, this means the trails that my family and I have enjoyed and stewarded for half a century could be opened to unintended uses—putting my safety at risk and forever changing my recreation experience across National Forests. 

 

This proposal would open a Pandora's box of devastating consequences for all user groups, both motorized and non-motorized. This would reopen old wounds and ignite new issues related to user conflict, visitor safety and pose challenges to the maintenance of trails by volunteers and partners. 

 

The Forest Service must reject this 'open unless closed' proposal in the final rule. 

 

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Roadless Rule Repeal Comment Submission

(Deadline October 6, 2026)- Deadline Extended

 

Click Here to Submit a Comment for the Roadless Rule Repeal

 

COPY AND PASTE THE MESSAGE BELOW

REJECT THE REPEAL OF THE ROADLESS RULE

 

As a hiker and supporter of American Hiking Society I am calling on the Forest Service to reject the repeal of the Roadless Rule. 

 

[IN YOUR OWN WORDS ADD WHY REPEAL OF THE ROADLESS RULE IS IMPORTANT TO YOU, HIGHLIGHT YOUR FAVORITE HIKE, IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT, AND OTHER IMPACTS]

 

The proposed rollback elimination of the 2001 Roadless Rule jeopardizes nearly 45 million acres of undeveloped backcountry forestland managed by the U.S. Forest Service, comprising around a third of the territory in our national forest system. These forests have only remained intact because of the Forest Service's nearly 25-year-old commitment not to build roads in these areas for harmful activities like major logging operations or oil-and-gas drilling.

 

Based on data provided by AllTrails and Outdoor Alliance, over 25,000 miles of trails and 5,651 trail routes across 37 states, would be at risk with the rescission of the Roadless Rule. In the last year alone nearly three million hours were spent recreating on these trails. 

Protected roadless areas have offered abundant outdoor recreation opportunities such as hunting, fishing, camping or other activities. Large sections of the Continental Divide, Pacific Crest, Arizona, and Appalachian National Trails traverse protected roadless areas.