The NPS held an open comment period last year to gather feedback from the public and local, state, tribal, and federal agencies. The review gauged the potential e-bike impact in national parks on non-motorized trails. The Finding of No Significant Impact confirmed the 2020 decision that authorized individual superintendents to decide if e-bikes can be ridden where traditional bikes are allowed, the NPS said. Congress-designated Wilderness areas remain off-limits to all bicycles.
The open comment period came about following a D.C. District Court judgment in 2022 of a lawsuit filed in 2019 by the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility and a coalition of conservation groups. The plaintiffs said that Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and Deputy NPS Director P. Daniel Smith regularly met in private with an industry-dominated advisory committee called the “E-bike Partner & Agency Group” at Interior headquarters and through conference calls. The suit says the meetings violated the Federal Advisory Committee Act, which requires transparency to prevent secret lobbying.
