Conservation and outdoor recreation groups are among those concerned about the U.S. Forest Service’s proposal to revise the two-decades-old rule that dictates where and how vehicles can be operated in national forests.

President Donald Trump’s administration announced in an Aug. 21 news release that it plans to revise the Forest Service’s travel management rule. The rule requires vehicles to remain on designated routes and outlines the process for how national forests publish and update maps showing where vehicle travel is allowed.

“This action provides the legal foundation to streamline and modernize the travel management rule and align Forest Service policy with administrative priorities to increase access and protect private and commercial interests while conserving natural resources,” Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz said in a statement.

The proposed revisions aim to “enhance quicker local decision-making and increase access, including for motorized vehicles, e-bikes and other mobility devices,” according to the Trump administration.

But some recreation and conservation groups are concerned that the proposed revisions to the travel management rule will open more national forest lands to offroad travel that will damage resources and result in increased conflict between visitors.

Vera Smith, the director of national forests and public lands at the nonprofit Defenders of Wildlife, noted that the proposed revisions to the transportation management rule come as the Trump administration has proposed repealing the roadless rule. Earlier this year, the Trump administration also revoked two executive orders that had governed off-road vehicle and over-snow vehicle use on public lands for decades.

The roadless rule protects tens of millions of acres of undeveloped national forest lands from new road construction, and its proposed repeal has been met with widespread resistance from conservation groups. The roadless road repeal isn’t expected to impact Colorado, since the state has its own roadless rule.

Smith described the changes to the transportation management rule and roadless rule as a “one-two punch” that will have negative impacts on wildlife.

“The Forest Service issued the (transportation management) rule over 20 years ago to curb widespread damage from unmanaged off-highway vehicles and protect public safety,” she said. “Rescinding it now is irresponsible and reckless.”

The Outdoor Alliance wrote in a news release that it appreciates that the Trump administration has sought to revise, rather than revoke, the transportation management rule. But the nonprofit coalition, which includes the American Alpine Club, the Colorado Mountain Club and the International Mountain Bicycling Association among its members, said that “significant concerns” remain.

While the existing transportation management rule creates a “closed unless open” policy where only designated roads are open to vehicular travel, the Outdoor Alliance said the revisions would create a policy that vehicular access in national forests is “open unless closed.”

“In practice, this change will require local Forest Service staff to individually review roads, trails and areas and make complex and likely controversial decisions about whether to close these areas to motorized vehicles,” the Outdoor Alliance said. “Beyond being inefficient, we are concerned that this policy will force land managers to open popular trails to motorized use without full consideration of impacts to environmental and cultural resources, community preferences, user conflicts and impacts to human-powered recreation.”

Members of the public can submit comments on the proposed changes to the Forest Service’s transportation management by visiting Regulations.gov/document/FS-2026-0100-0001.