October 15, 2025 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Senators Lee and Curtis Introduce New Bills that will Authorize Off-Road Vehicles (ORVs) in National Parks Across America
Allowing ORVs on National Park Service roads is incompatible with protection of Park resources and visitor experiences
Contacts:
Grant Stevens, Communications Director, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA); (319) 427-0260; gr***@**wa.org
Caitlyn Burford, Senior Communications Manager, National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), cb******@**ca.org (541) 371-6452
Washington, DC – Last week, Senator Mike Lee (R-UT), chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, announced he had introduced two new bills that would open national parks to off-road vehicles (ORVs), fundamentally altering the visitor experience and damaging landscapes that draw millions of visitors each year: the State Motor Vehicle Laws in National Park System Units Act and the OHVs in Capitol Reef National Park Act. The bills are also sponsored by Senator John Curtis (R-UT). Below are statements from conservation groups and additional information on the legislation.
“We’re deeply concerned for Capitol Reef and America’s national parks. These bills strip the National Park Service’s ability to fully manage park roads by opening them to off-road vehicles that bring noise and damage to fragile landscapes. In Capitol Reef, the red rock cliffs and dark night skies offer a rare kind of solitude that defines the national park experience here in Southern Utah,” said Cory MacNulty, Campaign Director, Southwest Region at the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA). ”Adding off-road vehicles to both the busiest paved roads and the most remote backcountry routes would ruin that sense of quiet. There’s no reason to overrun one of Utah’s most awe-inspiring parks, especially with so many opportunities already open to ORVs on surrounding public lands. Capitol Reef is just the tip of the iceberg if this is what is to come for national parks across the country.”
“Opening Capitol Reef National Park and all National Park Service-managed areas to OHVs would denigrate the very resources those sites have been set aside to protect, with increased dust and noise and impacts on wildlife, endangered species, and visitors; it would also be expensive, time-consuming, and detrimental to the visitor experience, “said Sue Fritzke, former Superintendent at Capitol Reef National Park and current Executive Council Member of The Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks. “Substantial opportunities for OHV use, both on and off road exist on Bureau of Land Management, US Forest Service, and the many other public lands in Utah not managed by the National Park Service. The use of OHVs is not appropriate or require a national park setting, and these bills are simply an attempt to homogenize the recreational opportunities of millions of visitors. Having some places that are free of OHVs allows for a broad array of opportunities on public lands.”
“Off-road vehicles have dramatic and damaging impacts on the landscape and the experience of others who recreate outside. They are faster and louder than full-size vehicles and are designed to travel off-road and into rugged backcountry terrain,” said Laura Peterson, Staff Attorney at the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA). “In Utah and beyond, there are tens of thousands of miles of routes already open to off-road vehicles on surrounding public lands. National Parks are simply too special to be sacrificed to the noise and damage from off-road vehicles.”
The State Motor Vehicle Laws in National Park System Units Act would open National Park Service roads to off-road vehicles (ORVs), nationwide, including “street-legal” ATVs on paved roads and dirt bikes, ATVs, and side-by-sides on dirt roads and trails. Currently, nearly all National Park Service units prohibit ORVs, with only a few exceptions permitted by specific legislation for some National Recreation Areas, National Seashores, and National Lakeshores.
The OHVs in Capitol Reef National Park Act would authorize off-road vehicle use on a dozen paved and dirt roads in Capitol Reef National Park. These routes are closed to ORV use to protect specific cultural and natural resources and protect the visitor experience. Opening any Park Service paved or dirt roads to ORV use would directly contradict National Park Service staff expertise and on-the-ground knowledge, which makes clear such a decision would cause irreversible damage.
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The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) is a nonprofit organization with members and supporters from around the country dedicated to protecting America’s redrock wilderness. From offices in Moab, Salt Lake City, and Washington, DC, our team of professionals defends the redrock, organizes support for America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act, and stewards this world-renowned landscape. Learn more at www.suwa.org.
Since 1919, the nonpartisan National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) has been the leading voice in safeguarding our national parks. NPCA and its more than 1.9 million members and supporters work together to protect and preserve our nation’s most iconic and inspirational places for future generations. For more information, visit www.npca.org.
The Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks is made up of over 4,600 members, all of whom are current, former, and retired employees and volunteers of the National Park Service. Together, they have accumulated over 50,000 years of experience caring for America’s most valuable natural and cultural resources. Outside of their work with the Coalition, our members have a wide range of skills and expertise gained during their careers with the National Park Service. Learn more at protectnps.org