Moab Utah USA: Local BLM requests comments about a proposal for Allowing E-bike Use

[Porcupine Slim]

Hi,
The Bureau of Land Management, which oversees the vast majority of mountain bike trails near Moab Utah, is requesting comments regarding the use of e-Bikes on the existing trails.

This is an extremely polarizing topic in the local Moab bike culture, with many pedal bikers having firsthand negative experiences with early e-bike users.

E-bike advocates in Moab have been trying to overcome impressions made by thrill seekers who have displayed poor trail etiquette and careless behavior on the local trails. There is a state of well-deserved paranoia.

The BLM recognizes the significant interest in e-bikes and understands that, as with all user groups, a few bad actors should not be used to prevent responsible access.

The Moab office of the BLM understands that many, if not the majority, of riders who use the trail systems are visitors traveling from around the country and the globe, so comments from near and far will be considered equally pertinent.

If you care to read the proposal and request for comments, you may do so at this link:

EplanningUi

eplanning.blm.gov

A green Participate Now button will appear, which takes you to this comment form:

EplanningUi

eplanning.blm.gov

I can share with you that the advocates for e-biking within the BLM will appreciate and be able to make the best use of comments that calmly emphasize accessibility, responsibility, and a commitment to common-sense trail etiquette.

Conveying anecdotes describing how e-bikes have allowed you opportunities to pursue your interests will be greatly appreciated. Do you primarily ride to maintain fitness and health? Are you a naturalist who employs the bicycle as backcountry transportation? Do you crave a sense of discovery and want to ride places you have yet to explore? Great!

Please let the BLM know what your e-bike lets you do and what it would mean for you to be permitted to ride Moab's trails.

Full disclosure: I live in Moab and have pedaled mountain bikes since 1983. I'm old, worn out, ridden hard, put up wet, and was long ago broken by an automobile-runs-over-bicyclist collision. I ride bikes to get out in nature and would love to ride the local trails on my e-bike without worrying about some pedal zealot giving me the stink eye.

Thank you.

 

[Mabman]

I have to laugh at how the BLM and the Forest Service view eMTB's while they allow such heinous shenanigans by ranchers, miners, loggers and the oil industry on their lands......Good luck with getting this through but for sure I wouldn't let it keep me off the trails.

 

[Porcupine Slim]

Misunderstanding that leads to stereotyping these large bureaucratic agencies only hinders progress that can be made by cooperating with individuals working in the organizations who are sympathetic to your cause.

The employees at these organizations, who are sympathetic and can help you, work under the same constraints and regulations that the public is presented with. Much of the progress occurs while working with the system.

In this case, the BLM is asking for your help. It is simple: they need to accumulate a significant number of comments requesting e-bike access.

Your comments can help.

Thank you.

 

[levity]

There are LOTS of great trails on BLM land in the Moab/Canyonlands area. No good reason to restrict their use by Class 1 pedal-assist e-bikes, and lots of reasons to open them up.

Thank you @Porcupine Slim. I’ll be hitting the Participate Now button to submit my thoughts. Your suggestions are appreciated!

Here’s a pic on an ebike-legal trail in Dead Horse Point State Park that shows the fun slickrock riding and the great scenery in San Juan and Grand counties around Moab.

 

[Astro66]

The problem you have is the higher speed limits allowed on EBikes in the US. It's why I advocate that in Australia, the 15mph limit is maintained.

Whilst I 100% disagree with the limit. It reduces the argument to ban EMTBs from MTB trails. Which is far more important. 15mph is better than ZERO mph.

So perhaps part to the comments provided, would be to only allow 15mph limited EBikes. This would greatly improve the chances of getting change.

Best of luck with it.

 

[Mabman]

The slickrock trail that put Moab on the mtb map was pioneered by Honda 90 motorcycles and the area in general gets overrun by motorized off road vehicles as well. Sure the likes of Robem and Billem, Matty, Kim etc. have had good success bringing bicycles to the table there and lots of hard work has been done to bring the awareness of how to treat the area's environment properly over the years but the fact that as the OG poster suggests if the local managers are sympathetic to the "cause" they should be able to make the necessary inroads towards making eBikes legal without passing off the responsibility to the general public's input. At this point there have been plenty of studies that eBikes don't cause any more damage than other trail users and especially when there are existing trails, primarily on sandstone no less, it really shouldn't be an issue.

And Mr. Astro, the speed limit has nothing to do with it.

 

[Astro66]

And Mr. Astro, the speed limit has nothing to do with it.

Anywhere a MTB is allowed in Australia, an EMTB is allowed. This is 100% to do with the 15mph limiter legislated on EMTB motors. This would definitely not be the case if 32mph was allowed. So to quote P Slim :

There is a state of well-deserved paranoia.

If you say that the "state of well-deserved paranoia" EBikes have in the US, whilst there is the general acceptance of Bicycles, has nothing to do the risk EBikes create travelling at much higher speeds than Bicycles. Then you are entitled to your opinion on the matter.

I would love nothing more than Ebikes to have higher limiters. Perhaps my bike is derestricted, perhaps it isn't. But people hate change, and look for any perspective to inhibit change. So sometimes it's easier to give concessions to the nannies, whilst still maintaining your freedom to have fun.

Just my opinion. So I hope they allow EMTBs into Moab. I have always wanted to ride it on one of my Park City ski trips.

 

[Mike O]

The problem you have is the higher speed limits allowed on EBikes in the US. It's why I advocate that in Australia, the 15mph limit is maintained.

Whilst I 100% disagree with the limit. It reduces the argument to ban EMTBs from MTB trails. Which is far more important. 15mph is better than ZERO mph.

So perhaps part to the comments provided, would be to only allow 15mph limited EBikes. This would greatly improve the chances of getting change.

Best of luck with it.

I understand your speed limit argument and for quite some time found it fairly convincing; especially as experienced outside the US. I also understand that you are making an argument about how to further change and are not actually for speed limits. Your approach might indeed affect change, but I'm concerned that it ignores what I believe is really going on and injects a topic (speed) into the discussion that simply adds noise to the discussion.

For I live in a place where e-bikes are perhaps as much as half the cycling population on non-paved trails much of the time. And there are a LOT of riders. E-bikes are encouraged. Partly because this place is relatively new. It does not have a history of a large number of manual riders going back 30-40 years.

Riding here, I've come to understand that the only reason non-ebike riders care about e-bikes off road (not speed limits) is that they don't have an e-bike and have to work harder in the same conditions. You see this expressed by statements such as, "damn old senior e-bike blew past me going up the fire road. So rude."

Here at least, non riders who don't like cyclists tend to not discriminate from manual to powered.

I'd encourage you to consider that Moab and many other places in the US have different cycling politics than AU and EU. Indeed, bike speed limits are not near the topic of discussion here that I understand them to be elsewhere.

I could well be wrong however, as I've not cycled all over the world (yet).

 

[Astro66]

Indeed, bike speed limits are not near the topic of discussion here that I understand them to be elsewhere.

Not sure I agree with that. My son lives in Seattle and has ebikes. I've read several stories about why Ebikes are not allowed where bicycles are allowed in the US. Most mention "Unruly speed" as an objection. Including stories from Utah and Moab.

"While the topic of e-bikes might raise some lively conversations in town—from concerns of volume of bikes on the bike path, unruly speeds and illegal use on trails designated for non-motorized use"

E-bikes are a charged issue

Local business educates on appropriate use

moabsunnews.com

Anyway. I don't want to derail your discussion. Just wanted to add a suggestion of speed control, and why I'm suggesting it.

 

[RebornRider]

I submitted my request to allow emtbs. Thanks for posting!

As with any topic, opinion will be divided between those who focus on the benefits and those who focus on the abuse.

 

[DirkWisely]

I think people that complain about e-mtb speed are conflating e-motorcycles with class-1 e-bikes.

An e-mtb can go uphill faster than an analogue bike, but you'll never hit the speed limit going uphill, and downhill any bike can go as fast as you dare.

 

[Mikerb]

The bottom line is that a bike equipped with an electric motor is generically referred to as an Ebike, and could be anything from a "pedelec"/Class 1 EMTB to a 50mph+ Surron/motorbike! What happened in territories that essentially adopted the EU "Pedelec" regulations ( albeit with 2 or 3 different maximum assisted speed limits), those "pedelecs" are classed as cycles and are therefore legal to use anywhere a cycle is. (most of us bemoan the fact the speed limit is set a little to low but there are benefits meanwhile).
In the UK, anything with electric motor assistance that does not conform to the pedelc regulations is a motorcycle and in general can only be legally used on public roads or private land that has no public access ( with landowner permission). So all our favourite EMTBs ( Spesh/Trek/Giant etc) are cycles.........no arguments a bout access. The rather more "liberal" attitude in the US ...or in some US states, is what is causing the problems of access etc.

 

[surfshiny]

Hi,
The Bureau of Land Management, which oversees the vast majority of mountain bike trails near Moab Utah, is requesting comments regarding the use of e-Bikes on the existing trails.

This is an extremely polarizing topic in the local Moab bike culture, with many pedal bikers having firsthand negative experiences with early e-bike users.

E-bike advocates in Moab have been trying to overcome impressions made by thrill seekers who have displayed poor trail etiquette and careless behavior on the local trails. There is a state of well-deserved paranoia.

The BLM recognizes the significant interest in e-bikes and understands that, as with all user groups, a few bad actors should not be used to prevent responsible access.

The Moab office of the BLM understands that many, if not the majority, of riders who use the trail systems are visitors traveling from around the country and the globe, so comments from near and far will be considered equally pertinent.

If you care to read the proposal and request for comments, you may do so at this link:

EplanningUi

eplanning.blm.gov

A green Participate Now button will appear, which takes you to this comment form:

EplanningUi

eplanning.blm.gov

I can share with you that the advocates for e-biking within the BLM will appreciate and be able to make the best use of comments that calmly emphasize accessibility, responsibility, and a commitment to common-sense trail etiquette.

Conveying anecdotes describing how e-bikes have allowed you opportunities to pursue your interests will be greatly appreciated. Do you primarily ride to maintain fitness and health? Are you a naturalist who employs the bicycle as backcountry transportation? Do you crave a sense of discovery and want to ride places you have yet to explore? Great!

Please let the BLM know what your e-bike lets you do and what it would mean for you to be permitted to ride Moab's trails.

Full disclosure: I live in Moab and have pedaled mountain bikes since 1983. I'm old, worn out, ridden hard, put up wet, and was long ago broken by an automobile-runs-over-bicyclist collision. I ride bikes to get out in nature and would love to ride the local trails on my e-bike without worrying about some pedal zealot giving me the stink eye.

Thank you.

Submitted my comment. I visited Moab in 2021 to eMTB (Turbo Levo SL), did not realize there was such a restrictive ban on eMTB which really took a lot of fun options away for the 7 day trip.

Assumed Moab was open for eMTB like almost all of CA, including US Natl Forest lands and CA State Parks. Yes, I should have done my homework but the “anti eBike” vibe and broad-based ban on eMTB left a very negative impression about a place I had always dreamed about visiting and riding. It felt harsh and unnecessarily restrictive, kinda like snowboarding bans in the 90s.

 

[surfshiny]

There are LOTS of great trails on BLM land in the Moab/Canyonlands area. No good reason to restrict their use by Class 1 pedal-assist e-bikes, and lots of reasons to open them up.

Thank you @Porcupine Slim. I’ll be hitting the Participate Now button to submit my thoughts. Your suggestions are appreciated!

Here’s a pic on an ebike-legal trail in Dead Horse Point State Park that shows the fun slickrock riding and the great scenery in San Juan and Grand counties around Moab.

View attachment 147727

Just spectacular, one of the most scenic rides I’ve ever done, for sure! Just watch those drop offs…

 

[Mabman]

"The rather more "liberal" attitude in the US ...or in some US states, is what is causing the problems of access etc."

The USA has had specific eBike laws of 750w/20mph/throttle on the books for years. The emergence of their popularity across the pond led manufacturers to mainly follow the EU guidelines of 250w/15.5 mph with PAS no throttle. When the manufacturers started selling into the US they lobbied via PFB to more align the US laws with the EU regs and the main thing that changed was the requirement of a Class system that put PAS as the prime category so that the EU bikes didn't have to come with a throttle for the US market, at least the way I see it, but did make allowances for throttle use via a Class II designation. Which is fine but the way it was worded it makes it sound like throttling was the only way to motivate a Class II and made no allowance for the fact that they also can have PAS.

Where I live the privately managed forest has hung up a sign that indicates it doesn't allow any Class of eBike on it's property which consists of gravel roads behind locked gates with lots of clear cutting going on. The company has indicated that it is following Forest Service guidelines and has no plans to change. Not a big deal because our area is not an mtb mecca.

That said and more to the original post the BLM in Utah is working on Travel Management Plans throughout the state that is restricting miles of existing access to the general public and the fact that eBikes aren't allowed in Moab is really the least of the problems they are causing in the state. More info here: Travel Management Planning | PLPCO

 

[Porcupine Slim]

Your statement is an example of close-minded frustration preventing understanding of the function of the BLM.

BLM is updating its travel plans throughout southern Utah because an organization named SUWA successfully sued the BLM and compelled them to do so.

A decade earlier, the BLM had just completed a series of travel plans, which were hoped to represent a compromise between users. These plans embodied a significant SUWA influence and the imposition of numerous restrictions.

Before the ink was dry on that series of travel plans, SUWA launched another round of suits to repeat the planning process. With each sequence, they continue their agenda to enact further restrictions.

SUWA won the recent suit, and BLM employees have been compelled to spend thousands of man-hours cow-towing to SUWA's demands.

The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance is a group formed by do-gooders living all over the country. Many of them have little first-hand experience visiting the area. They are preoccupied with saving their vision of wildland by restricting access to the general public. Their primary funding is sourced from a Swiss Billionaire who has retired to Jackson Hole and decided to save us from ourselves.

SUWA employs a strategy of perpetually suing the public agency to push policy in the direction its members prefer.

You can learn more about SUWA here
SUWA.org
You can read about how proud they are to use civil suits as a primary tactic to get their way and force land managers to bend to SUWA's will.

SUWA has introduced the Red Rocks Wilderness Act, stating its intention to redefine the legal understanding of "Wilderness." In our area, they have successfully confiscated land that includes roads, mines, industrial mining equipment, and a rich history of Indigenous habitation and activity to have had it redefined as off-limits Wilderness areas.

The BLM is not your enemy and does not deserve mischaracterization of its function.

The local BLM needs comments supporting e-bike use to demonstrate to their regional and national management that there is a significant interest in responsible e-bike use.

In the case that resulted in the recent Moab motorized travel plan restrictions, most of the comments made by motorized use enthusiasts were filled with vitriol, misunderstanding, and paranoia. The BLM staff had to sift through thousands of comments to locate a handful of coherent messages that conveyed an appreciation for the access. There was a lot of passion, but only some was helpful.

More disclosure: I own a modern, well-equipped lifted Jeep and am very familiar with the local backcountry. The recent loss of road access has been heartbreaking. I felt a deeply personal loss because access to some of my favorite remote scenery was taken away.

Because some lawyer from Connecticut got what they wanted, I am not even allowed to ride a pedal bicycle on the old double tracks to see the overlooks.

Still, I know not to be angry at my friends employed at BLM who have been forced to enact the new policy.

Those same BLM friends would like some help with the e-bike issue.

In the case of e-Bikes the sort of messages I described in earlier posts can be very helpful.

Please let me re-emphasize that Moab gets visitors from all over the world. Comments supporting your preferred activity can originate from anywhere and be considered helpful.

Thank you.

 

[surfshiny]

Your statement is an example of close-minded frustration preventing understanding of the function of the BLM.

BLM is updating its travel plans throughout southern Utah because an organization named SUWA successfully sued the BLM and compelled them to do so.

A decade earlier, the BLM had just completed a series of travel plans, which were hoped to represent a compromise between users. These plans included a significant SUWA influence that enacted restrictions.

Before the ink was dry on that series of travel plans, SUWA launched another round of suits to repeat the planning process. With each sequence, they continue their agenda to enact further restrictions.

SUWA won the recent suit, and BLM employees have been compelled to spend thousands of man-hours cow-towing to SUWA's demands.

The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance is a group formed by do-gooders living all over the country. Many of them have little first-hand experience visiting the area. They are preoccupied with saving their vision of wildland by restricting access to the general public. Their primary funding is sourced from a Swiss Billionaire who has retired to Jackson Hole and decided to save us from ourselves.

SUWA employs a strategy of perpetually suing the public agency to push policy in the direction its members prefer.

You can learn more about SUWA here
SUWA.org
You can read about how proud they are to use civil suits as a primary tactic to get their way and force land managers to bend to SUWA's will.

SUWA has introduced the Red Rocks Wilderness Act, stating its intention to redefine the legal understanding of "Wilderness." In our area, they have successfully confiscated land that includes roads, mines, industrial mining equipment, and a rich history of Indigenous habitation and activity to have had it redefined as off-limits Wilderness areas.

The BLM is not your enemy and does not deserve mischaracterization of its function.

The local BLM needs comments supporting e-bike use to demonstrate to their regional and national management that there is a significant interest in responsible e-bike use.

In the case that resulted in the recent Moab motorized travel plan restrictions, most of the comments made by motorized use enthusiasts that the BLM collected were filled with vitriol, misunderstanding, and paranoia. The BLM staff had to sift through thousands of comments to locate a handful of coherent messages that conveyed an appreciation for the access. There was a lot of passion, but only some was helpful.

More disclosure: I own a modern, well-equipped lifted Jeep and am very familiar with the local backcountry. The recent loss of road access has been heartbreaking. I felt a deeply personal loss because access to some of my favorite remote scenery was taken away.

Because some lawyer from Connecticut got what they wanted, I am not even allowed to ride a pedal bicycle on the old double tracks to see the overlooks.

Still, I know not to be angry at my friends employed at BLM who have been forced to enact the new policy.

Those same BLM friends would like some help with the e-bike issue.

In the case of e-Bikes the sort of messages I described in earlier posts can be very helpful.

Please let me re-emphasize that Moab gets visitors from all over the world. Comments supporting your preferred activity can originate from anywhere and be considered helpful.

Thank you.

My friend and I also rented a Jeep Rubicon in town (partially because eMtB was so limited), we did Fins N Things drive, oh my goodness, that was insane and so much fun! Is that activity now prohibited under the new land mgmt plan?

Seems like UT will go the way of CA where pretty much all ORV activities have been banned from public lands. There’s a handful of exceptions (Pismo Dunes, Ocotillo Wells) but the message is clear. ORV is “bad”. I am sorry for that because CA should not be the precedent, we’ve become an over litigated, hyper-regulated state in terms of public land management. Also including coastal access (I’m a surfer) but I’ll save that rant for another time!

Good luck with everything and hope they can find a reasonable, fair outcome for all sides. Moab is one of the most breathtakingly beautiful places in the world, I’m so grateful for the week we got to spend there!

 

[Mikerb]

Maybe the answer is for them to allow or even create specific trails such that access is restricted to those trails....which if good enough would negate any incentive for users to wander beyond them......in turn the entire area would not then need policing..... which is an expensive and hopeless task anyway. In terms of permitted use one set of trails designed specifically for mtb.....standard and class 1 emtb. Maybe another trail specifically for ramblers and even another for other off road vehicles. Providing some basic facilities.....parking area, Maybe a cafe, could provide a revenue source used to help manage the wider area.

 

[Porcupine Slim]

Fins and Things is open to everything and will likely remain open until it is no longer passable. Fins and Things and Hell's Revenge are unique in that large portions of those tracks were made from scratch for OHV recreation.

Most of the recent closures, which amounted to 317 miles of old double track in the county's far reaches, were roads made in the 1950s and 1960s for mineral and oil exploration. The fact that the 317-mile closure also included bicycle use seemed to go largely unnoticed because most pedal bikers identify with the naturalists, hate the OHVers, and don't venture too far off the many purpose-built bike trails.

One of the great ironies affecting Moab's double tracks is a perverted conspiracy whereby the environmentalists and the chest-thumping hardcore jeepers both want the roads to deteriorate into impassible wild land. Environmentalists want the roads to disappear so that no one can access the areas. Jeepers want the roads to disappear, so they may brag about how only manly men with mad Jeeping skills can drive over washed-out rock rubble the size of a Toyo Prius.

Whenever a moderate suggests that the roads should be maintained to allow mom-and-pop to drive out and see the sights, the crazies and the other crazies band together and squash the idea. The county management loves it because they can spend their road maintenance money on other things.

Having said that, none of that is part of the e-bike issue in Moab. I just elaborated about SUWA because so much anger and frustration concerning Moab's land use management is misdirected. Very little progress can be made when unfounded accusations cloud the air. That is essentially why the OHV crowd can't effectively represent its interests. They start sputtering hateful diatribes and shout in the face of their allies.

In Moab, pedal bicyclists seem to dislike e-bikes. Most of the purpose-built bike trails were funded specially to disallow motorized use. This was how the trails were made and protected from motorcycle use.

Here's the thing: The BLM is responsible for trying to allow a balance of impacts and provide opportunities to all user groups, so they want to include e-bikes despite the palpable disgust exemplified by the local culture.

Comments supporting e-bikes can help.

Thank you.

 

[B1rdie]

I have been there in 2011, eight years before I got my first emtb, loved the place and rode a few of the most famius trails, including the whole enchillada. I was riding a santa cruz nomad and met two guys from Colorado riding stumpjumpers, they where on their third try to do that ride because of weather, I wad lucky to make it on my first attempt.
Since that I sold the nomad, got a stumpy amd started to travel to europe.
Now that my son is on a doctorate at Utah University I plan to go back and do it again on an ebike.
Do you think that if I email them this text it would help?
Best luck to you Porcupine Slim

 

[Porcupine Slim]

Yes the BLM will appreciate your comments, but instead of an email I suggest you post them at the e planning site which the BLM uses.

If you care to read the proposal and request for comments, you may do so at this link:

EplanningUi

eplanning.blm.gov

A green Participate Now button will appear, which takes you to this comment form:

EplanningUi

eplanning.blm.gov

A statement as simple as

"I enjoy riding my e-bike and look forward to the possibility that I may someday visit Moab and enjoy the bicycle trails."

is a great start.

Thank you for taking the time to place a comment.

 

[ChuckK]

Hi,
The Bureau of Land Management, which oversees the vast majority of mountain bike trails near Moab Utah, is requesting comments regarding the use of e-Bikes on the existing trails.

This is an extremely polarizing topic in the local Moab bike culture, with many pedal bikers having firsthand negative experiences with early e-bike users.

E-bike advocates in Moab have been trying to overcome impressions made by thrill seekers who have displayed poor trail etiquette and careless behavior on the local trails. There is a state of well-deserved paranoia.

The BLM recognizes the significant interest in e-bikes and understands that, as with all user groups, a few bad actors should not be used to prevent responsible access.

The Moab office of the BLM understands that many, if not the majority, of riders who use the trail systems are visitors traveling from around the country and the globe, so comments from near and far will be considered equally pertinent.

If you care to read the proposal and request for comments, you may do so at this link:

EplanningUi

eplanning.blm.gov

A green Participate Now button will appear, which takes you to this comment form:

EplanningUi

eplanning.blm.gov

I can share with you that the advocates for e-biking within the BLM will appreciate and be able to make the best use of comments that calmly emphasize accessibility, responsibility, and a commitment to common-sense trail etiquette.

Conveying anecdotes describing how e-bikes have allowed you opportunities to pursue your interests will be greatly appreciated. Do you primarily ride to maintain fitness and health? Are you a naturalist who employs the bicycle as backcountry transportation? Do you crave a sense of discovery and want to ride places you have yet to explore? Great!

Please let the BLM know what your e-bike lets you do and what it would mean for you to be permitted to ride Moab's trails.

Full disclosure: I live in Moab and have pedaled mountain bikes since 1983. I'm old, worn out, ridden hard, put up wet, and was long ago broken by an automobile-runs-over-bicyclist collision. I ride bikes to get out in nature and would love to ride the local trails on my e-bike without worrying about some pedal zealot giving me the stink eye.

Thank you.

Done! Thanks for providing this information. I live in Golden, CO and have ridden my regular mountain bike on Moab trails as well as my e-bike in Dead Horse Point State Park.

 

[Downhillr]

Not sure I agree with that. My son lives in Seattle and has ebikes. I've read several stories about why Ebikes are not allowed where bicycles are allowed in the US. Most mention "Unruly speed" as an objection. Including stories from Utah and Moab.

"While the topic of e-bikes might raise some lively conversations in town—from concerns of volume of bikes on the bike path, unruly speeds and illegal use on trails designated for non-motorized use"

E-bikes are a charged issue

Local business educates on appropriate use

moabsunnews.com

Anyway. I don't want to derail your discussion. Just wanted to add a suggestion of speed control, and why I'm suggesting it.

Having ridden here in “the birthplace of mountain biking” (SF Bay area) and received speeding ticket warning from park rangers using radar gun because “it was unsafe” while we were going downhill on fire/service road riding standard bikes @ approximately 20 mph nearly 30 years ago I can attest the speed issue gets overblown and using that as an excuse to try to ban bikes is nothing new. Since then that same area has added new generations of riders, rangers and expanded with more trails, both multi-use and single-track with more common sense regulations & enforcement. Unfortunately there are still some vestiges of the anti-bike groups who now seize on the tired old speed argument to oppose e-bikes.

 

[Downhillr]

Apologies for long winded response, just wanted to say we shouldn't inject unnecessary subjects into our comments to BLM or other regulatory agencies because they're going to receive plenty of those from opposition trying to muddy the waters.

 

[bonescro]

Done. I may never be able to travel to and ride Moab, but my voice needs to be heard. I'm an old man, wracked with arthritis, and I'm sure there are several more just like me who would love to go. It would be a damn shame if a silly rule kept that from happening.

 

[ian408]

For what it's worth, the Forest Service just opened over 100 miles of trails to ebikes in the Lake Tahoe area.

 

[Ace Freely]

Comments submitted!

 

[NCMike]

Hi,
The Bureau of Land Management, which oversees the vast majority of mountain bike trails near Moab Utah, is requesting comments regarding the use of e-Bikes on the existing trails.

The BLM recognizes the significant interest in e-bikes and understands that, as with all user groups, a few bad actors should not be used to prevent responsible access.

The Moab office of the BLM understands that many, if not the majority, of riders who use the trail systems are visitors traveling from around the country and the globe, so comments from near and far will be considered equally pertinent.

If you care to read the proposal and request for comments, you may do so at this link:

EplanningUi

eplanning.blm.gov

Please let the BLM know what your e-bike lets you do and what it would mean for you to be permitted to ride Moab's trails.

Full disclosure: I live in Moab and have pedaled mountain bikes since 1983. I'm old, worn out, ridden hard, put up wet, and was long ago broken by an automobile-runs-over-bicyclist collision. I ride bikes to get out in nature and would love to ride the local trails on my e-bike without worrying about some pedal zealot giving me the stink eye.

Thank you.

Sent my support for E bikes and how important it is at my age for still being able to ride and enjoy the trails.

 

[Porcupine Slim]

Here is some press coverage about the Moab e-bike comment period:

E-bike use on Moab mountain biking trails? BLM asks for input

The Bureau of Land Management opened a public scoping period as it considers allowing the use of e-bikes on some Moab mountain biking trails.

kslnewsradio.com

 

[Porcupine Slim]

Here is another example of press coverage about the Moab e-bike comment period:

Moab is finally considering opening its world-famous non-motorized MTB trails to e-bikes

For a destination that is so progressive when it comes to mountain bike access and outdoor recreation, including motorized recreation, it feels like this step has been a long time coming for Moab, Utah.

www.singletracks.com