Clarity On eMTB Confusion

This map is for reference only and shows several eMTB-accessible trails in our region. It is not comprehensive and not to be used for navigation.

On our public lands, motorized electric bicycles (e-bikes) should be managed for what they are: motorized vehicles. This is not to say that the Southwest Montana Mountain Bike Association (SWMMBA) opposes electric motorized bicycles. Indeed, many of our members own and ride e-bikes, but on motorized trails, of which there are many.

This became an issue in late August when Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt issued a Secretarial Order calling for increased recreational opportunities for e-bikes. This order directed all Interior land-management agencies to allow e-bikes on any trail where traditional bikes are allowed, notably in National Parks and on Bureau of Land Management land, such as Copper City.

According to the order, motorized e-bikes should be granted access to those non-motorized trails, paths, and roads that are open to bicycles, but closed to vehicles, and the agencies were tasked with developing new management guidelines for enforcement. Immediately, the order was met with opposition—and a great deal of confusion. 

While the order appeared to call for increased access, many mountain bikers held their breath, anticipating a backlash. They realized that their access was in fact under threat. 

While that sounds counterintuitive, consider the history of public-lands management and mountain-bike access in southwest Montana. Here, being associated with motorized recreation has been bad for human-powered cycling access. Most trails on public land in Montana are managed by the Forest Service, an agency not included in the directive because it is a division of the Department of Agriculture, but relevant nonetheless because of past management decisions related to mountain biking. 

Time and again, mountain bikers have lost access to non-motorized Forest Service trail, and where they do enjoy access, they have had to struggle for the privilege. Advocates have spent nearly 40 years and a great deal of time and energy maintaining this access, often citing the human-powered nature of mountain bikes as a reason for inclusion on non-motorized trail. Indeed, mountain bikes do not have motors, so this argument makes sense. 

The DOI order further complicates management, drawing a closer association between human-powered mountain bikes and motorized e-bikes, a link that threatens all mountain-bike access to Montana’s federally managed public land. (In a press release following the DOI order, Region 1 of the Forest Service issued a statement defining e-bikes as motorized vehicles.)

That’s why the Southwest Montana Mountain Bike Association has concluded that motorized e-bikes should be managed as motorized vehicles. While there are different classes of e-bikes, all with slightly different technology at work, one thing is common across all models—they all have motors. Motorized vehicles gaining access to non-motorized trail is dangerous for mountain bikers because if and when the Forest Service is forced to grapple with e-bike management, the agency could remove mountain bikers from all non-motorized trails to theoretically streamline management.

Again, SWMMBA is not against e-bikes. Appropriate opportunities for e-bike recreation already exist, and we look forward to expanding that opportunity with future trail projects. Of the seven Forest Service trailheads on the west side of the Bridger Mountains, five are already accessible to e-bikes. However, e-bike access to non-motorized trail could undo decades of advocacy work. SWMMBA’s mission includes advocating for human-powered cycling, therefore we would be acting counter to our mission if we did anything other than oppose e-bike access to non-motorized trail.

Furthermore, e-bike-management decisions should be based on process, and decisions regarding their future use should be tied to the travel-planning process. Because the DOI issued this top-down order from Washington, DC, the public was not involved and was not given an opportunity to comment. Also, the DOI did not conduct proper scientific studies of e-bike impacts on recreation resources or on wildlife. Consequently, we do not have enough information at our disposal to make sweeping conclusions about this new technology, how it should be managed, and how that management should be implemented. 

For now, SWMMBA will continue to advocate for human-powered mountain biking, and encourage e-biking on motorized trails across our public lands.