The Forest Service has started rewriting the Travel Management Rule, the regulation at 36 CFR 212 that governs which roads, trails, and areas on national forests are open to motor vehicle use and how those decisions get made. The notice of intent is scheduled to publish in the Federal Register on Monday, August 24, opening a 30-day comment period. On that schedule, comments would be due September 23.
Nothing changes for your 2026 season. The notice states that existing motor vehicle use designations, “including the designations shown on MVUMs and OSVUMs, would remain in effect until revised under the amended regulations.” It also says the new open-unless-closed presumption “would not itself open a currently closed route, airfield, trailhead, or other access point,” apart from specific vehicle exemptions the rule makes self-executing. What publishes Monday contains no regulatory text. USDA expects a proposed rule and draft EIS in spring 2027 and a final rule in early 2028.
What the Forest Service says it would change. Existing roads, trails, airfields, trailheads, and access points would be presumed open unless closure is required by law or valid existing rights, or supported by “specific, documented and justifiable reasons based on science-based resource conditions, public safety, conflicts among uses, or maintenance and administrative capacity.” The minimization criteria in subparts B and C would come out. Units would review closed and highly restricted routes annually, subject to available appropriations, and would have to consider adding new roads, trails, and access points. The rule would add processes for limited off-route use—big game retrieval, firewood, dispersed camping—and for over-snow areas and airfields. Class 1 e-bikes would be exempt from motor vehicle use designation on trails where bikes are already allowed. Integrated digital maps showing access rules for all trails, roads, airfields, trailheads, and access points would become “the authoritative public source for designations made under the revised regulations.”
The notice does not mention outfitters, guides, or special use permits. Travel management designations still determine where your trips can drive, park, shuttle, launch, and land.
The notice also seems to contemplate removing the sections that currently require public involvement and coordination on designation revisions, and says the rule “would identify the public involvement, governmental-coordination, and Tribal-consultation requirements that will govern future designation and revision decisions.” What replaces them bears on whether outfitters have a defined way into these decisions on their own forest.
What we need from you. Your input and perspective for how the initial proposals would impact your operations or operating area.
If you comment yourself: regulations.gov, docket FS-2026-0100, by September 23, 2026. The Forest Service asks that comments state the concern and the recommended fix, with a short plain summary up front if the comment runs long. Everything you submit posts to the public docket unchanged, so keep client lists, revenue figures, and anything else confidential out of it.
Reach out with what you’re seeing.
