Page 40 - Winter 2018 Journal

As eMTBs evolve, batteries and motors will become
even lighter, and geometry will reflect that of other MTBs,
so eMTBs will be able to handle a variety of terrain just like
a traditional MTB.

eMTBs on Federal Lands
As demand for eMTB experiences increase, so does the
pressure on land managers to allow that use on pub-
lic lands, especially non-motorized trails. Currently, the
United States Forest Service (USFS) defines e-bikes as
motor vehicles (36 C.F.R. 212.1) and the Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) defines e-bikes as “off-road vehicles”
(BLM: 43 C.F.R. 8340.5). Therefore, eMTB use on public
land outside of ski area boundaries is only allowed on roads
and trails with motorized designations. Riders follow Steamboat Bike Park guide Tim Price. The guided
Whether eMTBs are allowed inside public land ski e-bike program started in summer 2017 with a fleet of Specialized
Turbo Levo bikes. Larry Pierce/Steamboat Ski Resort
area boundaries is a decision that the resort makes, with
input from the USFS, of course, as to the appropriateness
of eMTBs in a given location. The factors likely to be dis-
cussed between the agency and the resort are the origi-
nal purpose of the trails that will be used by eMTBs and The Impact on Trails
also previous NEPA (National Environmental Policy How do eMTBs impact trails? Is soil displacement sim-
Act) review. ilar to a dirt bike, more like that of a mountain bike, or
A decision to allow eMTBs on a trail originally designed somewhere in between? In April 2016, the Bicycle Product
as hiking only may require additional review and trail work. Suppliers Association, working with PeopleForBikes
Those discussions take place in the context of USFS approval (the bicycle industry trade and advocacy organizations,
of the resort’s Operating Plan. Ski areas would address the respectively) and the International Mountain Bicycling
use of eMTBS (or their exclusion) through the Rules of Use Association (IMBA), analyzed the impacts of eMTBs on
adopted in the Operating Plan. mountain bike trails in the Pacific Northwest. Using a
In a letter from the USFS Washington Office to controlled study area with 500 passes each of a mountain
Regional Foresters (March 2016), the agency stated that bike and an eMTB, IMBA determined that impacts from
“new trail riding opportunities for e-bikes on existing mountain bikes and eMTBs were similar, and much lower
non-motorized trails may be considered and designated than those from dirt bikes.
as motorized trails by administrative units and rangers That said, the locations of the impacts on the trail were
districts under travel management planning efforts” different between eMTBs and MTBs. The eMTB—because
and “would involve appropriate environmental analysis, it is typically heavier (owing to the battery and motor)—
public participation and designation decisions.” This exerted more braking forces on the trail and displaced soil
guidance would only be relevant to ski areas if there are at the entrance to bermed turns. That same weight, how-
routes within the ski area permit boundary that are on the ever, gave the eMTB more traction, and therefore control,
agency’s travel management plans. Typically ski area roads when exiting berms, resulting in less displacement than the
and trails are not on the USFS travel management system mountain bike.
as they are built, managed, maintained, and operated solely Taking the lessons learned from the study, best man-
by resort staff. However, there could be some exceptions, agement practices were developed to help trail builders
for example when an official USFS road exists within a ski and land managers create sustainable eMTB trails.
area boundary and is on the travel management plan. In Implementing these best practices, either when con-
those instances, changes could be subject to the process structing new trails or retrofitting existing trails, will
cited in the March 2016 USFS guidance. reduce impacts associated with eMTB use. See MTB
See “Steamboat: An Early eMTB Adopter in North Land Manager Handbook, PeopleForBikes, at http://peo-
America,” page 36, for a look at how the resort has added pleforbikes.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/eMTB_
eMTB trails under its USFS-approved Operating Plan. Book_11.7.17_lowrez.pdf.

38 | NSAA JOURNAL | WINTER 2018