President Donald Trump has rescinded executive orders dating back to the Nixon and Carter administrations that restricted off-road vehicle access to tens of millions of acres of public lands, according to a report from The Guardian. The move overturns federal directives that had been in place for more than five decades requiring dirt bikes, ATVs, trucks, snowmobiles, and other off-road vehicles to stay on designated roads and trails designed to minimize ecological harm.
The administration characterized the restrictions as outdated. In a fact sheet posted with the orders, Trump labeled the limits “outdated and burdensome.” The fact sheet stated: “President Trump believes the American people should be able to access and enjoy their public lands without being burdened by unnecessary and outdated regulations.”
Environmental groups sharply criticized the rescission. Vera Smith, director of national forests and public lands for Defenders of Wildlife, called the move “reckless and nonsensical.” Smith added: “This rescission is yet another loss for wildlife and natural places.”
Randi Spivak, director of public lands for the Center for Biological Diversity, said the administration is taking a systematic approach to dismantling protections. “What’s so frustrating here is that the Trump administration is taking a very systematic approach to dismantling protections for public lands,” Spivak said. “Public lands are already so stilted to extraction that we need more protections.”
The Nixon administration issued the original executive order in 1972, and the Carter administration strengthened it with additional environmental protections. Since then, the popularity of off-road sports has grown, and advocates say the restrictions are more necessary today because modern vehicles are far more powerful. The Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service already maintain more than 500,000 miles of roads available for vehicle use across public lands and parks, and the National Park Service allows limited snowmobile use in Yellowstone National Park.
Opponents said the rescission will allow vehicles to travel outside designated routes, carving up wildlife habitat and fragmenting it into smaller tracts that are not suitable for many animals. Species identified as particularly at risk include desert tortoises, western snowy plovers, lynxes, grizzly bears, and sage-grouse.
Research cited by the groups shows that grizzly bears begin to leave habitat areas when road density reaches one mile per square mile. Spivak said the new rules will force bears into closer contact with humans. “This will end badly for the bears,” she said. State and federal agents currently kill hundreds of thousands of predators annually because of human-wildlife conflicts, a practice some advocates have characterized as a “bloodbath.”
Off-road vehicle tracks also damage plant life along stream edges, raising water temperatures and sending sediment into waterways, according to the groups.
Spivak said environmental groups cannot sue over the rescission of the executive orders themselves but will monitor the subsequent rulemaking process closely and take action if warranted.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Forest Service is preparing to open 5 million acres of parkland to vehicles, mostly in Idaho and Montana, according to a memo reported by the New York Times. A Forest Service spokesperson said in the memo: “As the United States marks 250 years of independence in 2026, we must shine a light on our nation’s greatest natural treasures and ensure every American can recreate on these majestic lands.”
The off-road vehicle order is the latest in a series of actions by the Trump administration aimed at expanding access to public lands for recreation, industry, and resource extraction. The administration has also sought to weaken the Endangered Species Act, expanded logging and grazing on public lands, opened protected waters to fishing and oil exploration, and rescinded other environmental protections.