Ashley National Forest has finalized directives of how electric bikes are to be used on national forests and grasslands. According to the announcement made this week, all classes of Electric bikes are considered motorized vehicles and are allowed on the roads and trails open to motorized vehicles portrayed on the Motorized Vehicle Use Maps available online. Hard copies are also available at all of the Forest offices. Under the new directive, forests can designate routes open to “electric bikes only” under a new category added to the Motorized Vehicle Use Map but must be evaluated through a National Environmental Policy Act process prior to designation. Currently, the Ashley National Forest has no plans to designate electric bike only routes. The updated directive can be found at www.fs.usda.gov.
