The President signed an executive order on May 29, 2026, directing federal agencies to rescind or revise regulations regarding off-road vehicle use on federal lands. The document, published June 3, 2026, rescinds two previous executive orders of 1972 and 1977. Executive Order 14408 directs multiple agencies to initiate rulemakings to remove or update regulations adopted under the previous orders.
The order says the previous criteria often result in barriers to energy production, timber production and utility maintenance. The document states the vague criteria also cause permit delays and de facto bans on hiking and other forms of recreation that require accessing remote areas. Rescinding the prior orders would facilitate a system providing more access, recreational opportunities and multiple use benefits to the public, the order says. The order states the action would restore balanced land management by eliminating ill-defined and arbitrary environmental and social standards, ensuring all public land users receive access on equal terms.
The document rescinds Executive Order 11644 of Feb. 8, 1972, and Executive Order 11989 of May 24, 1977. The order directs the secretaries of War, the Interior, and Agriculture, along with the Tennessee Valley Authority’s board of directors and other relevant agency heads, to initiate the rulemakings. The document states the previous directives required agencies to designate off-road vehicle use based on ill-defined criteria, such as minimizing wildlife harassment and ensuring the use would not adversely affect a location’s natural or scenic values.
The order says existing statutory authorities, including the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, the National Historic Preservation Act and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, provide the appropriate framework to manage off-road vehicles. The document states that technological, operational and land-management developments since the 1970s support replacing the specific criteria with a framework grounded in those existing statutes. The Department of the Interior will pay the costs of publishing the order.