More than 5 million acres of some of the most pristine lands in the national forest system could soon be open to off-road vehicle (ORV) use, according to reports, just a week after President Donald Trump revoked past presidential orders that protected federal lands from rampant ORV access.
A draft secretarial memo from Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins reportedly goes further, directing the U.S. Forest Service to look at “roads, trails, areas, airstrips and waterways” in all national forests from Alaska to southern New Mexico and east to South Carolina that are currently closed to motorized recreation to see which might be open to year-round recreation.
The Forest Service manages 193 million acres of land in the United States.
Within that total acreage are 5.18 million acres of forest lands viewed as having natural, untrammeled landscapes that appear much as they did prior to the country's settlement and which the Forest Service has recommended for protection as official wilderness, which prohibits motorized vehicle use.
According to The Wilderness Society (TWS), the 5.18 million acres of possible wilderness-designated lands that could be affected by the memo "contain 3,325 miles of trails; 2.3 million acres that are among the most important places in the country for conserving biodiversity; 2.6 million acres that are among the most important places in the country for conserving wildlife connectivity; habitat for 30 endangered or threatened species; and 1.5 million acres that are among most important areas for providing clean surface drinking water to Western communities.
“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,” said the memo reviewed by the New YorkTimes.
Word of the memo drew harsh criticism from TWS's Paul Sanford, the organization's director of equitable access policy.
"It appears this secretarial memorandum will be intended to lead the way to development, extraction and motorized activity in Forest Service recommended wilderness, some of the wildest natural areas left on our national forests," said Sanford. "If that happens, it will be practically impossible to restore these forests back to wilderness-eligibility; it will detract from non-motorized activities like camping, hiking and horseback riding; and it will be a victory for the special interests that want to continue the march of sprawling development across the last wild and intact places on the map.”
It was just a week ago, on May 29, that Trump released an executive order that reversed executive orders signed by President Richard Nixon and President Jimmy Carter decades ago that limited ORV access to federal lands. Trump said his predecessors' actions were overly burdensome and no longer needed today thanks to technological advances. The Republican also said the two orders impeded resource development and extraction from federal lands.
It was unclear Friday whether Interior Secretary Doug Burgum would be forthcoming with an order similar to Rollins' that would open National Park System, Bureau of Land Management, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wilderness-quality lands to greater ORV traffic.
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