The Shawnee TRAILS Act would require the Secretary of Agriculture to designate and maintain at least 20% of the Shawnee National Forest's trails for recreational use by covered vehicles—electric bicycles and off-highway vehicles (ATVs and ORVs). The designations would be accompanied by management and monitoring obligations to balance recreational access with conservation goals.
In addition, the act prohibits the Secretary from banning covered-vehicle use on paved roads within the forest, ensuring continued access for riders and preserving navigability for trail users.
At a Glance
What It Does
The act requires designating and maintaining at least 20% of Shawnee NF trails for recreational use by covered vehicles. It also tasks the Secretary with managing and monitoring these trails to balance recreation with resource protection and to keep at least one trail open for covered-vehicle use.
Who It Affects
Direct users include e-bike riders and OHV enthusiasts; USFS field offices and trail managers; local recreation businesses and communities supporting outdoor tourism.
Why It Matters
This sets a codified access framework for motorized recreation in a national forest, tying trail maintenance to resource protection and ensuring ongoing access paths for covered vehicles.
More articles like this one.
A weekly email with all the latest developments on this topic.
What This Bill Actually Does
The bill moves to formalize motorized access within Shawnee National Forest by designating a portion of trails specifically for covered vehicles. It creates a requirement for ongoing maintenance and monitoring to ensure trails remain suitable for recreational use while protecting natural resources.
The law also mandates that paved roads within the forest cannot be closed to covered vehicles, preserving a degree of mobility for riders. Definitions clarify who counts as a covered vehicle (e-bikes and OHVs such as ATVs and ORVs) and who represents the Secretary of Agriculture, who would implement these changes.
Overall, the act aims to harmonize motorized recreation with conservation goals by carving out a protected subset of trails and imposing standards for upkeep and oversight.
The Five Things You Need to Know
The bill requires the Secretary of Agriculture to designate and maintain at least 20% of Shawnee National Forest trails for recreational use by covered vehicles.
The designated trails must be managed and monitored to ensure recreation while minimizing adverse impacts to natural resources, and at least one trail must remain open for covered-vehicle use.
The Secretary may not prohibit the use of covered vehicles on paved roads within the Shawnee National Forest.
Covered vehicles include electric bicycles (e-bikes) and off-highway vehicles (ATVs and ORVs).
The Secretary of Agriculture is the designated authority implementing these provisions.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
Every bill we cover gets an analysis of its key sections.
Trail designation threshold
The Secretary shall designate and maintain at least 20% of the Shawnee National Forest’s trails for recreational use by covered vehicles. This establishes a floor for motorized trail access and signals a formal commitment to accommodate e-bike and OHV activity on a defined portion of the forest’s network.
Management and monitoring
The Secretary must manage and monitor the designated trails to ensure they remain suitable for recreation, assess maintenance needs, and minimize adverse impacts to natural resources. The law also requires that at least one trail remain open for the recreational use of covered vehicles, ensuring ongoing access even as conditions and resource considerations evolve.
Paved roads protection
The Secretary may not prohibit the use of covered vehicles on paved roads within Shawnee National Forest. This preserves a pathway for riders to utilize paved routes without triggering prohibitions on motorized travel within the forest’s road network.
Definitions
Definitions establish who counts as the Secretary (Secretary of Agriculture) and what constitutes ‘covered vehicles’ (electric bicycles and off-highway vehicles, including ATVs and ORVs). These terms anchor the bill’s scope and ensure consistent interpretation across forest management activities.
This bill is one of many.
Codify tracks hundreds of bills on Environment across all five countries.
Explore Environment in Codify Search →Who Benefits and Who Bears the Cost
Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- E-bike riders who regularly utilize Shawnee National Forest trails gain formal access to designated routes for motorized recreation.
- OHV enthusiasts (ATV/ORV riders) receive protected, maintained trails suitable for their vehicles.
- Local recreation-related businesses (trail-focused outfitters, bike shops, campgrounds, and lodging) benefit from anticipated visitation and economic activity tied to designated motorized trails.
- Communities near Shawnee National Forest stand to gain tourism spillover effects from increased outdoor recreation and regional marketing.
- U.S. Forest Service field offices and regional managers gain clearer direction and measurable targets for trail management and resource monitoring.
Who Bears the Cost
- U.S. Forest Service budgets for monitoring, upkeep, signage, and enforcement of designated trails.
- Local law enforcement and search-and-rescue operations may see increased workload related to safety and compliance on motorized trails.
- Potential environmental mitigation costs if motorized use accelerates resource stress or requires habitat protections beyond existing baselines.
- Nearby residents who experience noise, traffic, or safety concerns linked to higher motorized activity on designated trails.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The central dilemma is balancing expanded motorized access within a protected forest with the need to safeguard natural resources and accommodate non-motorized users, all while relying on finite budgetary and staffing resources to monitor and maintain designated trails.
The bill creates a policy niche by expanding motorized access to a defined portion of the Shawnee National Forest while imposing guardrails (maintenance and monitoring to minimize resource impacts, and a requirement that at least one trail remains open for use). That guardrail system depends on funding, staffing, and forest plans to translate the 20% designation into real, on-the-ground management.
Questions to consider include whether the 20% threshold remains adequate as demand fluctuates and how monitoring will be resourced in practice, as well as whether non-motorized users’ access and experience would be affected in adjacent or overlapping trails.
Implementation challenges include balancing ecological protections (soil erosion, wildlife habitat) with recreational access, ensuring transparent and consistent trail designation processes, and coordinating with state and local authorities on roads that intersect forest boundaries. Funding for signage, maintenance, and compliance will be a practical constraint that may shape how the designation is realized over time.
Try it yourself.
Ask a question in plain English, or pick a topic below. Results in seconds.