WASHINGTON (BRAIN) — National Park Service overseers will continue to have authority over e-bike use on lands they manage after an environmental impact assessment is completed, according to a ruling in a court case.
The NPS held an open comment period last year to gather feedback from the public and local, state, tribal and federal agencies. The review examined the potential impacts of e-bikes on nonmotorized trails in national parks. The finding of no significant impacts affirmed the 2020 decision that allowed individual supervisors to decide whether e-bikes could be ridden where traditional bicycles are allowed, the NPS said. Wilderness areas designated by Congress remain closed to all bicycles.
The open comment period came about after a district court in Washington, D.C., issued a 2022 ruling on a lawsuit filed in 2019 by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility and a coalition of conservation groups. The plaintiffs alleged that Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and Deputy NPS Director P. Daniel Smith regularly met privately with an industry-dominated advisory committee called the E-Bike Partner & Agency Group at Interior headquarters and via conference call. The lawsuit says the meetings violated the Federal Advisory Committee Act, which requires transparency to prevent secret lobbying.
“It was very disappointing to see the superficial and cursory analysis in the programmatic environmental assessment and determination of no significant impacts that the Park Service has taken nearly 2 ½ years to complete since being ordered to do so by the DC District Court in May 2022,” Peter T. Jenkins, senior attorney at PEER, said in an email to BRAIN. “The documents do not provide meaningful guidance on key impacts to park supervisors who are supposed to develop individual approaches to e-bike access in their parks, nor do they address the cumulative impacts of allowing e-bikes across the NPS.”
According to the NPS, park managers must consider public health and safety, protection of natural and cultural resources, and other management activities and goals when deciding whether to allow e-bikes on nonmotorized trails. To find out if e-bikes are allowed, contact the park directly.
“When managed appropriately, the use of e-bikes can enhance recreational opportunities for national park visitors and support active transportation options,” the NPS said in a statement. “E-bikes can have many benefits for parks and visitors, including expanding access for people with physical disabilities, supporting clean transportation, reducing vehicle congestion in parks, and providing healthy recreational opportunities. The 2020 rules ensure that the NPS must manage this form of access and recreation, like others found in park areas, in a way that protects park resources, values, and visitors.”
