Tahoe Daily Tribune
Biking the entirety of the Tahoe Rim Trail’s 165 miles, which currently traverses areas where cyclists aren’t allowed, could be a possibility in the future if a bill amending the Wilderness Act makes its way through Congress.
A bill in Congress could make biking possible in wilderness areas. Provided / Claire McArthur
The Human-Powered Travel in Wilderness Areas Act, introduced by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), seeks to remove the blanket ban of bicycles in wilderness areas by inserting language to ensure that the rules restricting “mechanical transport” does not include forms of non-motorized, human-propelled travel.
At present, the Wilderness Act prohibits roads, permanent structures or use of any mechanized machines in its lands but allows hiking, camping and horseback riding. Rangers must monitor the land on foot or horseback and use hand saws instead of chainsaws to clear trails. There are 757 wilderness areas encompassing nearly 110 million acres of federally-owned land in 44 states and Puerto Rico — roughly 5% of the land in the United States.