President Donald Trump rescinded two executive orders Friday from the 1970s that had governed off-road vehicle use on federal public lands, directing agencies to dismantle a regulatory framework he called vague, burdensome, and an obstacle to legitimate access.
The order revokes Executive Order 11644 and Executive Order 11989, which together required agency leaders to manage off-road vehicle use on public lands under a set of subjective criteria—including preventing adverse effects on natural, aesthetic, or scenic values and minimizing conflicts between off-road vehicles and other existing or proposed recreational uses.
The first executive order, signed by President Richard Nixon in 1972, established strict criteria for the use of off-road vehicles on federal lands in an effort to minimize their environmental impact. The second, signed by President Jimmy Carter in 1977, authorized the government to immediately shut down off-road driving if it was causing ecological damage….