Central Oregon Bitterbrush Broads • Entered by Mary Fleischmann on September 2, 2023
Forest Service having community meeting regarding E-bikes on public lands
July 27, 2023
Participants and Hours
| Pre Planning hours | 0.5 |
| Post Admin hours | 0.5 |
| Activity Hours | 2 |
| Participants | 1 |
| Total Hours | 3 |
Key Issue: Public Lands Health & Protection
Activity Type: Advocacy (rallies, lobbying, meeting decision makers, letters/calls/emails)
Short Description of Activity
Meeting with members of the community who either want or do not want E-bikes on public lands/trails. Forest Service was testing the waters.
Reflection/Evaluation
There were probably 50 people in attendance. This was a meeting pulled together by the Deschutes Trail Coalition with the Forest Service kind of running it. There were various exercises to find flush out pro’s and con’s , and then we broke into groups. Some of the concerns were that this would be single track and E-Bikes can go 20 – 30 MPH. Other concerns were enforcement of speed, people not going off trail and environmental impacts. Safety was a huge concern. Discussion of a pilot project, which in my opinion totally opens up the door. Wildlife impacts also was brought up. Discussion regarding E-Bikes allowed on motorized trails only, which I can support. Request that a NEPA process should happen prior to final decision. I heard from folks about having limitations and not able to access public/wilderness areas and my comment is that we all reach a point in our life that we simply can’t do what we used to do and we have to accept that ( for me not having the physical strength any more to raft in whitewater rivers). Shall wait and see what Forest Service decides to do, but will follow up with them, I am sure.