Forest Service Issues ‘E-Bike’ Guidance

[sapperJ24]

I know e-bikes have been a contentious issue in the past, but the Forest Service finally issued their guidance.

"The Forest Service currently allows e-bikes on all Forest Service roads that are already open to motorized vehicles, as well on 60,000 miles of motorized trails, which represent 38% of all trails the agency manages. Today’s finalized guidance allows e-bikes to continue to operate on currently-authorized roads and trails, and lays out a process to evaluate future requests for expanded access. The updated guidance also outlines the required environmental analysis and public input required before making future decisions to expand local e-bike access...

...The clarified guidance will support local Forest Service decision-makers as they consider opportunities to expand access for this emerging user group."

https://pagosadailypost.com/2022/04/01/forest-service-issues-e-bike-guidance/

direct link to updated policy: https://pagosadailypost.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/22-USDA-EBike-Rules.pdf

It is too late on a Friday for me to dive into the policy and make an assessment of the updated rules, so I will just trust the news organization on this one... unless I have another whiskey sour, maybe.

Link to FS press release: https://www.fs.usda.gov/news/releas...manage-future-e-bike-use-national-forests-and

 

[Salmonchaser]

First it was the Honda trail 90, then mountain bikes, then ATVs, now this… a whiskey sour sounds good.

 

[Chingon]

First it was the Honda trail 90, then mountain bikes, then ATVs, now this… a whiskey sour sounds good.

Can you explain your comment? I haven't followed outdoor legislation that long, but I don't see how e-bikes are treated as anything you just listed.

From what I understand, no motorized vehicles are allowed on certain trails, but mountain and "pedal-assist" e-bikes are, correct? Some trails have width restrictions for motorized.

 

[Scott85]

There are people that are going to do the right thing and the wrong thing.
I can see people using these on seasonally closed roads cause it’s so easy to go around the gate.

 

[Chingon]

To my understanding, the USFS closes roads to motorized traffic, not bikes (and it appears that e-bikes are considered bikes).

I hunted the Valles Caldera last year and they were very clear that certain roads were closed, but you were fine to walk them, bike them, e-bike them, but of course anything else was off limits...

 

[Salmonchaser]

Can you explain your comment? I haven't followed outdoor legislation that long, but I don't see how e-bikes are treated as anything you just listed.

From what I understand, no motorized vehicles are allowed on certain trails, but mountain and "pedal-assist" e-bikes are, correct? Some trails have width restrictions for motorized.

Nope, just a joke, people use to just walk was the inference. At five in the morning with the coffee still brewing it was dangerous to write anything.

 

[BZNHNTR]

All this seems to say (but I’m no lawyer) is local jurisdictions can make decisions on if a trail open to bicycles can also be open to e-bikes and what class of e-bikes it is open to. I’m not a fan of e-bikes on non-motorized trails, it’s a motor… But I agree their trail use should be a local decision not a DC decision.
The point of a seasonally closed road is interesting, my interpretation is that would also be a local decision.

 

[mtmuley]

In the National Forest around me, ebikes are allowed on roads and trails open to motorized travel only. mtmuley

 

[runningmt]

Electric cars are still cars

Electric bikes are motorcycles

 

[ccc23454]

I read it as ebikes have to designated on muvm's now, bicycles are not on that map.

 

[shoots-straight]

To my understanding, the USFS closes roads to motorized traffic, not bikes (and it appears that e-bikes are considered bikes).

I hunted the Valles Caldera last year and they were very clear that certain roads were closed, but you were fine to walk them, bike them, e-bike them, but of course anything else was off limits...

Your understanding is wrong: E bikes are considered motorized.

The Forest Service currently allows e-bikes on all Forest Service roads that are already open to motorized vehicles, as well on 60,000 miles of motorized trails, which represent 38% of all trails the agency manages.

 

[Nameless Range]

The Butte BLM recently released their final plan for the Scratchgravel Hills recreation area. Within it, they outlined that ebikes are motorized and therefore only allowed on motorized trails. The local outrage from bike shops and mtn bikers was significant.

This is an issue that will continually rear its ugly head, particularly by the ever growing industrialized recreation contingent.

 

[sapperJ24]

My takeaways are that e-bikes are motor vehicles, trails open to motorcycles are of course open to e-bikes, local authorities can expand e-bike usage.

Emphasis mine:
"The directives add a definition of e-bikes as a class of motor vehicle and establishes criteria for consideration in designating roads, trails, and areas for e-bike use that are not currently designated for motor vehicle use, among other changes."

And here's the definition:
Electric Bicycle (E-Bike). Also referred to as an electric mountain bike (eMTB), a type of motor vehicle with two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other, equipped with fully operable pedals and an electric motor of less than 750 watts that meets the requirements of one of the following three classes:

Class 1 E-Bike. An e-bike equipped with a motor that provides assistance only when the rider is pedaling and that ceases to provide assistance when the e-bike reaches the speed of 20 miles per hour.

Class 2 E-Bike. An e-bike equipped with a motor that may be used exclusively to propel the e-bike and that ceases to provide assistance when the e-bike reaches the speed of 20 miles per hour.

Class 3 E-Bike. An e-bike equipped with a motor that provides assistance only when the rider is pedaling and that ceases to provide assistance when the e-bike reaches the speed of 28 miles per hour.

 

[TheTone]

Anyone that has ridden one knows they offer quite the advantage over a pedal bike.

The hardest part of regulation seems to be overcoming e-bike lobbyists and paid promoters/advertisers

 

[mtmuley]

Anyone that has ridden one knows they offer quite the advantage over a pedal bike.

Exactly. I was banned on another site when a member whined about my stance on ebikes. The ignorance on that site is astounding. He lurks here, maybe he will chime in. mtmuley

 

[Scott85]

To me there is no difference in an Ebike and an ATV.

 

[Jack Ryan]

Anyone that has ridden one knows they offer quite the advantage over a pedal bike.

The hardest part of regulation seems to be overcoming e-bike lobbyists and paid promoters/advertisers

It ALWAYS IS. Bribery eventually rules the day.

 

[Nameless Range]

Beaten to death yes, but the idea that ebikes aren’t a totally different thing is dubious. The idea that a position against them is elitist and ableist as silly as the idea the we need an escalator to the top of Granite Peak.


https://helenair.com/news/beat-feet...cle_647ac759-94a9-5764-bcce-23615e46aea6.html

A 2019 Brigham Young University study found dramatic differences in rider capability on pedal bikes compared to e-bikes. Using a powered bicycle with just a third of the allowable booster force, riders completed a 5.5-mile course with 50 percent faster speed and significantly lower heart rates than those relying on their leg strength alone. That was with a 250-watt e-bike, one-third the capacity of full-strength 750-watt e-bike boosters.

Meditate on that when it comes to the trails you hike or bike to hunt. Over 5 miles, 50% faster, and easier, on an e-bike with 1/3 the wattage than that which USFS would allow on non-motorized trails if the ebike proponents had their way.

 

[BAKPAKR]

Anyone who doubts the significant advantage of an e-bike over a pedal-only bike has never seen a lady in a long skirt flying along a rolling county road on one in Ohio’s Amish country.

I think the use of e-bikes should be limited to trails/roads that also allow motorcycles.

 

[Jason73]

For those that had the opportunity I bet it was a great advantage. It doesn't bother me either way honestly. At least they are quiet.