MCKENZIE LANGE/The Daily Sentinel A sign addressing e-bike usage on Bureau of Land Management trails is seen at the Lunch Loops Trail System in Grand Junction. E-bike use could be coming to more nonmotorized Bureau of Land Management trails in the mountain biking mecca of Moab, Utah, where for the most part the agency doesn’t allow that use on such trails.
The BLM’s Moab Field Office has opened a 30-day public comment scoping period for a proposed environmental assessment to analyze possibly allowing Class 1 e-bike use on more nonmotorized mountain bike trails.
The Moab Field Office noted in a document about its proposal that in 2022, the Grand Junction office authorized the use of Class 1 e-bikes on 29 miles of trails in the North Fruita Desert Special Recreation Management Area.
In 2019, David Bernhardt, secretary of the Department of Interior at the time, issued an order aimed at increasing the use of e-bikes on public lands. That was followed by a 2020 BLM rule giving it the ability to consider allowing e-bikes on nonmotorized trails where mountain bikes are allowed.
A nonmotorized bike trail system on BLM lands in the Rifle Arch area north of Rifle also allows e-bike use.
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By CHARLES ASHBY Charles.Ashby@gjsentinel.com 2 min to read Opponents to such an allowance cite concerns about things such as wear and tear of trails by e-bikes and whether e-bike use is compatible with nonmotorized bike use or creates safety issues. […]
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