The completion of the new environmental assessment and an accompanying finding of no significant impact is the latest turn for a public lands debate that gained speed in 2019 when the Trump administration ordered park superintendents to allow electric bicycles to be used throughout the system, in the same areas where traditional bicycles were allowed, unless they determined that restrictions or closures of certain areas were warranted.
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility challenged the park service policy with a lawsuit. A June 2021 park service memorandum clarified that the Trump-era policy was rescinded and directed superintendents of units where e-bikes were allowed on administrative roads or trails to reconsider those decisions.
In May 2022, Judge Rudolph Contreras ruled that the park service still needed to conduct an environmental assessment.