Trump Tried To Open Public Lands To E-Bikes, But Officials Instead Showed Us All How Weak He Is

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I don’t always agree with Donald Trump. In fact, regular readers of CleanTechnica know there’s plenty of daylight between his administration’s goals and clean transport advocacy. But, as they say, even a broken clock is correct twice a day. When a policy makes complete sense, you have to give credit where it’s due and support the policy. Back during his first term, his administration pushed a common-sense rule that should have been a slam dunk: opening up federal public lands to electric bikes.

But, as I’ll show you, the “deep state” earned its name on this one. Even now, after four years of Biden and then Trump coming back, they showed us all that Trump really doesn’t control anything without their blessing.

The Side-Stepped Directive

In 2019, then-Interior Secretary David Bernhardt signed Secretarial Order 3376. The directive wasn’t complicated. It told agencies like the Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service to stop treating low-speed e-bikes like dirt bikes or gas-guzzling ATVs. If a trail allowed a traditional bicycle, it should allow an e-bike.

It was a massive win for outdoor recreation, accessibility, and a rapidly growing cleantech sector. It was a simple directive that e-bike riders thought would soon be implemented. But, instead of executing the plan, the federal bureaucracy completely defied him.

When the agency lawyers and mid-level managers got ahold of the policy, they quietly pocket-vetoed the president’s intent. When the Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service dropped their final, enforceable rules in late 2020, they built in a massive loophole. Instead of a clear, top-down mandate opening trails nationwide, they gave local land managers the “discretion” to allow e-bikes on a case-by-case basis.

If you’ve ever dealt with federal land management, you know “case-by-case” is code for endless delay, and sometimes eternal delay.

Because of the National Environmental Policy Act and the mountain of paperwork required to alter trail designations, local offices bogged down. A field manager can’t just change a sign. They have to run environmental assessments, hold public comment periods, and absorb pushback from legacy trail groups who think anything with a battery belongs on an OHV route trying to get through mud and bog on steep climbs.

The result is a messy, unpredictable patchwork of rules. You can buy a perfectly legal pedal-assist bike, drive out to a trail, and get turned away because a local bureaucrat hasn’t finished a three-year paperwork review. Very few trails have been opened. Elsewhere, signs turning e-bikes away instead of welcoming them have gone up. This is the exact opposite of what was ordered.

If the bureaucracy actually wanted to implement the order, they easily could have. But, they didn’t want to and this is what we got.

Trump Should Be Embarrassed

To any honest observer, this continued failure makes the administration look incredibly weak. A high-profile executive directive was dismantled and buried in red tape by the very agencies tasked with enforcing it. Mid-level managers basically nodded along, waited for the news cycle to pass, and then went right back to their old ways. When Trump came back into office, no effort was made to get them back on track because Trump’s cabinet has him chasing other shiny objects that matter to them more than him.

For a reality TV and pro wrestling guy like Trump, this should be the ultimate embarrassment. He’s the boss. He’s the guy who says, “You’re fired.” Even Kevin from Home Alone took directions from Donald Trump. He should be directing people like Stephen Miller and Doug Burgum to go clean house, deliver on what Trump ordered in 2019, and be able to claim a win.

The Consequences Are Real

While they drag their feet, they are actively stifling a booming industry and locking people out of public lands. E-bikes aren’t toys. They’re legitimate electric vehicles that help people replace car trips, cut emissions, and enjoy the outdoors. Older Americans, disabled veterans, and people who just can’t handle a steep grade on a heavy mountain bike rely on this technology. Treating a 750-watt bicycle like a motorcycle hurts consumers and the American companies building them.

There’s an easy way to cut through the red tape and enforce the original 2019 intent. The federal government needs a universal standard: all e-bikes are allowed on all standard bike trails, provided riders stay under 15 mph.

This regulates actual behavior instead of the hardware. A 15 mph speed limit levels the playing field and completely defangs the bogus safety arguments from the anti-e-bike crowd. Law enforcement rangers with radar guns can easily enforce a speed limit just like they do now on the roads. They don’t have the time or training to inspect motor wattage labels or debate Class 1 versus Class 2 hardware at a trailhead. But, they already know how to write a citation!

If a local manager has legitimate concerns about trail erosion on sensitive dirt, give them a targeted tool. Let them ban throttle use on those specific sections, just like a “no wake zone” for boats on a crowded lake. But don’t let them ban the possession of the bike itself. If someone rides a Class 2 bike with a throttle for daily mobility, they should still be allowed to use it on the more fragile sections of federal dirt as long as they stick to pedaling and keep their speed down.

The administration had the right idea in 2019. It’s time to stop letting the bureaucracy slow-walk common sense. Let people ride their bikes!

Featured image by Jennifer Sensiba. Interested in learning more about my adventures, including some on two wheels? Check out my personal website Charge to the Parks or follow me on BlueSky.