When it comes to recreational activities people seek to engage in on public lands, off-highway vehicles (OHVs) are one of the most controversial. Proponents see it as a valid recreational use on equal footing with hiking or hunting, while opponents worry about the potential impacts to the environment and wildlife.
Those in support of OHV use got a huge endorsement from the Trump Administration on May 29. In an executive order, the President rescinded two previous executive orders that limited OHV use.
The order does not appear to immediately reopen closed routes. Instead, it directs federal agencies to begin rulemaking to revise or rescind regulations tied to the Nixon- and Carter-era orders.
What’s Different
The executive order, entitled “Removing Unnecessary and Counterproductive Restrictions on Access to Federal Lands,” repealed two past executive orders. The previous orders were as follows:
- Executive Order 11644: Use of off-road vehicles on the public lands (Feb. 1972): Issued by President Nixon, this order directed multiple departments, including Interior and Agriculture, to develop rules for designating which parts of public lands should allow off-road vehicle use and which should not. Off-road vehicle trails and areas are supposed to be designed so as not to impact wildlife, soil, watershed, or vegetation. It was issued in furtherance of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969.
- Executive Order 11989: Off-Road Vehicles on Public Lands (May 1977): Issued by President Carter, this order amended Nixon’s order and strengthened federal agencies’ authority to manage OHV use. An agency head is supposed to close areas to OHV use if data shows “off-road vehicles will cause or is causing considerable adverse effects on the soil, vegetation, wildlife, wildlife habitat or cultural or historic resources of particular areas or trails of the public lands.”
The Reasoning
The Trump administration justified the repeal of these OHV regulations on several counts. It said the guiding principles behind regulations included: “’minimiz[ing] harassment of wildlife or significant disruption of wildlife habitats,’ minimizing ‘conflicts between off-road vehicle use and other existing or proposed recreational uses,’ and ensuring that off-road vehicle use in given locations will not ‘adversely affect [the location’s] natural, aesthetic, or scenic values.’” In this administration’s estimation, these criteria are “vague,” “ill-defined,” and “subjective.”
The order also ties the issue to energy production, timber production, utility maintenance, permitting, and access to remote areas. “These vague, subjective criteria often result in barriers to energy and timber production and utility maintenance, permit delays, and de facto bans on hiking and other forms of recreation that require accessing remote areas,” the order explained.
The Trump executive order also argued that existing environmental protection laws (like NEPA and the Endangered Species Act) “provide the appropriate framework for managing off-road vehicle use on federal lands.” Essentially, it claims that these larger regulations make the mandated regulations of the 1972 and 1977 executive orders unnecessary.
The order also emphasized that “access to Federal lands benefits all American citizens.” The administration hopes to replace existing regulations with a “system for off-road vehicle use designation that provides more access, recreational opportunities, and greater multiple use benefits to the public.”
What This Does Not Do
The order does not automatically open every closed road, trail, or public land area to OHV use. Instead, it directs federal agencies to review and revise the regulations built around the Nixon and Carter orders. The practical effects will likely depend on how agencies handle those rulemaking processes and how existing travel-management plans are changed or challenged.
The Responses
GearJunkie reached out to several outdoor recreation and conservation nonprofits for their reactions to the news. Environmental, wildlife, and conservation groups worried about the potential adverse effects that increased OHV use could have on public lands.
“Getting rid of common-sense OHV guidance for public lands will harm fragile landscapes and increase conflicts between user groups in the backcountry. Trump said the quiet part out loud in his executive order: It’s meant to expedite industrial extraction, not improve recreational access. No wonder he tried to bury it in a Friday night news dump,” Center for Western Priorities Communications Director Kate Groetzinger said in an email.
The nonprofit worries that uncontrolled OHV use will lead to noise and dust pollution and damage to soil and vegetation.
The Wilderness Society also objected. “For more than 50 years, common-sense safeguards have helped land managers reduce conflicts, protect clean water and wildlife habitat, and make sure public lands can be enjoyed by everyone. This administration is working to destroy this foundation, which has been in place since Richard Nixon,” Acting President for Federal Policy Alison Flint said in an email.
“This is a cynical attempt to pit public land users against one another while weakening the rules that protect the land itself. Our children and grandchildren deserve public lands that are healthy, shared and cared for — not places where decades of balanced management are tossed aside for special interests.”
Recreation advocacy groups, on the other hand, praised Trump’s action. “This is a historic win for every American who values their right to access public lands,” said Ben Burr, executive director of BlueRibbon Coalition, in a press release.
“These 50-year-old executive orders were never codified into law, yet they became the legal foundation for a framework that litigation groups weaponized to lock millions of Americans off trails they’ve used for generations. President Trump’s action today resets the clock on decades of regulatory overreach.”
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