“Five groups filed a federal court lawsuit Wednesday seeking to restore the ban on electric bikes in national parks.

Led by the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, the lawsuit alleges the National Park Service order violated its own regulations when it failed to first amend the existing regulations defining and governing bicycle use. The lawsuit also claims the NPS improperly evaded required environmental reviews, and that the order to allow bikes in the parks came from Deputy Director P. Daniel Smith, who lacks the authority to issue the order.

‘This e-bikes order illustrates an improper and destructive way to manage our National Parks,’ Tim Whitehouse, PEER executive director and former enforcement attorney with the Environmental Protection Agency, said in a news release. ‘Concerned groups and individuals are joining PEER in demanding that the Park Service follow the normal regulatory processes and assess the additional impacts that higher speed e-bike riders pose both to other trail users and to wildlife in the parks.'”

Read the PEER Story…