Critics say Trump’s opening of public lands to off-road vehicles is ‘reckless and nonsensical’

The Bighorn national forest in Montana on 9 July 2018. Photograph: Patrick Gorski/NurPhoto via Getty Images View image in fullscreen The Bighorn national forest in Montana on 9 July 2018. Photograph: Patrick Gorski/NurPhoto via Getty Images Critics say Trump’s opening of public lands to off-road vehicles is ‘reckless and nonsensical’ Move is part of broad effort to open public lands to industry and other uses, threatening wildlife and ecosystems The Trump administration is executing a controversial plan to allow dirt bikes, ATVs, trucks, snowmobiles and other off-road vehicles to drive through tens of millions of acres of public lands and national parks, which environmental groups warn threatens endangered species and the environment. The plan’s opponents say the impacts will be wide-ranging and that the vehicles will likely destroy sensitive habitats, harm waterways, drive large predators like grizzly bears into contact with humans, and otherwise damage pristine public lands and parks. The Nixon administration more than 50 years ago issued an executive order that limited off-road vehicles’ access with the aim of protecting wildlife and preventing disputes on federal land. The Carter administration issued a second order providing similar environmental protections. ‘God squad’ waives endangered species law to allow US drilling in Gulf of Mexico Read more Since then, the popularity of off-road sports has exploded, and the vehicles are far more powerful than they once were, which advocates say makes the restrictions even more necessary today. Donald Trump rescinded the Nixon-Carter executive orders and directed agency leaders to draft new rules to open lands to off-road vehicles. Opponents warn that desert tortoises, western snowy plovers, lynxes, grizzly bears and sage-grouse are especially at risk from increased off-road vehicle activity. Trump’s move is “reckless and nonsensical”, said Vera Smith, director of national forests and public lands for Defenders of Wildlife . “This rescission is yet another loss for wildlife and natural places,” Smith added. The move is part of a broader Trump effort to open public lands to industry and other uses that threaten endangered wildlife and sensitive ecosystems. The administration has attempted to gut the Endangered Species Act, opened public lands to grazing, expanded logging access on public lands, opened protected waters to fishing, boosted oil exploration in protected waters and attacked other rules that limit the exploitation of natural resources. “What’s so frustrating here is that the Trump administration is taking a very systematic approach to dismantling protections for public lands,” said Randi Spivak, director of public lands for the Center for Biological Diversity. “Public lands are already so stilted to extraction that we need more protections.” In a fact sheet posted with the orders, Trump labeled the off-road vehicle limits “outdated and burdensome”. “President Trump believes the American peop