Editor's note: This updates to reflect that staff at Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility were in error when they said Rocky Mountain National Park had expanded eBike access into backcountry areas. 

Superintendents across the National Park System have been given permission to reverse course and deny trail access to e-bikes if they adversely impact park resources or other visitors.

That guidance from Shawn Benge, the acting director of the National Park Service, comes nearly two years after former Interior Secretary David Bernhardt ordered parks to allow the motorized bikes on trails that muscle-powered bikes already were allowed on. 

In the order sent Wednesday to regional directors, associate and assistant directors, superintendents, and the chief of the U.S. Park Police, Benge wrote to "remind superintendents that they have the discretion to allow e-bikes or not; and (3) direct superintendents of park units that allowed e-bikes on trails or administrative roads under the rescinded e-bike policy to reconsider that decision..."

"It is important that superintendents use their discretion under the e-bike regulation to decide whether, where, and under what conditions e-bike use is appropriate, and to manage e-bikes based on the specific conditions at their park unit. Using this discretion is appropriate given the broad and varied nature of specific conditions in park units," Benge added.

“This is a wobbly move by the Park Service,” said Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility Senior Counsel Peter Jenkins, who is handling a lawsuit PEER filed after Bernhardt issued his order.  “It shows they recognize they have a bad legal mess on their hands created under David Bernhardt, but it is insufficient to fix the mess.”  

PEER's lawsuit, filed in December 2019, claims Bernhardt and top NPS staff ignored a number of laws, including the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Park Service Organic Act, to push through e-bike access. It asked the court to toss out the rules that allowed the motorized bikes to travel on park trails that are open to muscle-powered bikes.

The policy change came without public disclosure and without an opportunity for the public to comment on it before it was implemented, moves that appear in conflict with the Code of Federal Regulations.

At the National Parks Conservation Association, Kristen Brengel, senior vice president for government affairs, said the Park Service should be banning e-bikes on trails, not giving superintendents the authority to allow them.

"E-bikes have motors and should be regulated as such. They can reach high speeds endangering visitors who are walking, hiking, and riding horses on park trails," she said. "We are disappointed to learn this administration is implementing a regulation that could cause widespread damage to beautiful backcountry areas in national parks. The Biden administration should rescind the Trump-era e-bike regulation."

The issue surrounding e-bike access in the parks has been controversial because they technically are motorized vehicles (which are banned from backcountry trails), can go faster than muscle-powered bikes, can startle wildlife due to their quiet nature, and can conflict with hikers and equestrians on trails. Some traditional bikers also have spoken out against E-bikes. 

Conversely, many e-bike users say bad hips and ailing knees make pedaling a regular bike too painful, and that the motorized bikes allow them to get out and enjoy nature.

PEER has identified 27 parks that allowed e-bikes on backcountry trails as a result of the Park Service's "maneuvers," including Acadia, Everglades, and Glacier. While the organization initially included Rocky Mountain in that list, a review of their information found that to be in error, said PEER staff.

In what PEER referred to as "after-the-fact research," Benge noted in his memo that the Park Service is "working expeditiously with the U.S. Department of Transportation Volpe Center to review relevant e-bike studies and other information and prepare a summary of key findings regarding e-bike use patterns and broad potential resource and visitor impacts. Superintendents should apply relevant information to the specific conditions at their park to inform their decision regarding e-bike use on trails and administrative roads and to support their NEPA compliance."

“Scrambling to assemble impact research after its final e-bikes regulation was issued is both a violation of NEPA and bad resource management,” Jenkins said, adding that the Park Service is seeking a way to avoid litigation over the matter. “Having inherited so many legal problems, the Park Service under (Interior Secretary) Deb Haaland should not keep trying to salvage a fatally flawed approach but instead go back to the drawing board to do it the right way.” 

According to PEER, the following park system units have expanded backcountry trail access to E-bike users:

• Acadia
• Amistad
• Big Cypress
• Big South Fork
• Cape Cod
• Chickasaw
• City of Rocks
• C&O Canal
• Everglades
• Glacier
• Golden Gate NRA
• Great Falls
• Indiana Dunes
• Mammoth Cave
• Mesa Verde
• Missouri National Recreational River
• New River
• Petroglyphs
• Point Reyes
• Redwoods
• Saguaro
• San Juan Island National Historical Park
• Santa Monica Mountains NRA
• Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
• Valley Forge National Historical Park
• Wrangell-St. Elias
• Yukon‐Charley Rivers National Preserve