Wrangell-St. Elias daily use rules are being rewritten
2026 Changes to WRST Superintendent's Compendium
National Park Service· Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & PreserveNPS Planning (PEPC) project page ↗
NPS PEPCWe track this on the agency’s own system of record, where most on-the-ground decisions live.
The groups on this fight
4 groups work Alaska
By footprint, from the same match the STAND matchmaker runs; none is linked to this decision in our record yet. Give straight to them; nothing routes through us.
- Alaska Wilderness League
Works Alaska: built around defending the Arctic Refuge from oil and gas drilling.
- Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges
Works Alaska: lead plaintiff in the November 2025 federal suit challenging the land exchange signed to put a road through the Izembek Wilderness.
- Southeast Alaska Conservation Council
Works Alaska: southeast Alaska’s homegrown defender of the Tongass since 1970.
- The Wilderness Society
Works Alaska: has litigated the 211-mile Ambler industrial road since the original 2020 approvals.
Every group above is on STAND for Public Lands, with its court record, its filings and who backs it.
New rules will govern hunting, fishing, guiding, camping, and off-road vehicle use across America's largest national park.
What’s at risk
Access and activity rights for hunters, anglers, guides, campers, and off-road vehicle users are at stake as the park rewrites its binding day-to-day regulations.
If this goes through
Whatever rules the park finalizes will become enforceable law governing visitor use at Wrangell-St. Elias for 2026, and public input now is the only opportunity to shape them before they take effect.
Our plain-English read of the official notice ↗. Check it against the agency’s own words below.
9 holes in the agency’s own analysis
What the public could have raised, from the agency’s own document
- I oppose this action as proposed, and I ask the agency to weigh the specific harms below.
- The notice asserts the change 'is consistent with management in other parts of the park' but provides zero analysis, data, or comparison showing how e-bike use is managed elsewhere in WRST or how the Kennecott NHL corridor compares to those areas. The 'Why Change is Warranted' section makes this claim without any supporting evidence. The agency should provide a written comparison of e-bike management across park units and explain why the NHL corridor meets the same criteria used elsewhere before finalizing this rule.
- The notice removes the explicit wilderness and Kennecott NHL exclusion language from the current compendium text and replaces it with new language, but provides no NEPA analysis, categorical exclusion citation, or finding of no significant impact to support this change. A compendium update that opens a National Historic Landmark to a new class of motorized vehicle use requires at minimum a documented categorical exclusion with extraordinary circumstances review. The agency should publish the NEPA compliance determination, including any categorical exclusion documentation, before the comment period closes.
- The notice does not analyze impacts to the Kennecott Mines National Historic Landmark's historic character, contributing resources, or visitor experience from e-bike traffic. The National Historic Preservation Act Section 106 requires consideration of effects on historic properties, and the NHL designation signals exceptional national significance. The notice says nothing about whether Section 106 consultation occurred or whether the State Historic Preservation Officer or Advisory Council on Historic Preservation was notified. The agency should disclose any Section 106 consultation record before the rule takes effect.
- The notice defines the authorized e-bike corridor by reference to a map attachment but provides no enforceable metes-and-bounds or written legal description of the NHL boundary crossing point or the shuttle bus turnaround location in the compendium text itself. Regulated boundaries in a compendium must be described with enough precision that a user in the field can determine compliance without a map. The agency should incorporate a written legal or spatial description of the corridor endpoints into the compendium language.
Show all 11 points from the document
- The notice does not state which classes of electric bicycles (Class 1, 2, or 3) are authorized on the NHL corridor, even though the compendium section heading specifically references 'specific classes of electric bicycles.' The current language for the four named trails outside the NHL also does not specify class. Without a class designation, the compendium fails to restrict motor-assisted speeds or throttle-only operation, which have materially different impacts on pedestrians, horses, and historic resources. The agency should specify which e-bike classes are permitted on each corridor.
- The notice states that the change 'allows an additional non-automobile mode of travel for visitors, employees, and residents' but does not analyze the interaction between e-bikes and the existing shuttle bus operation on the same corridor. The shuttle bus turnaround is named as the northern terminus of authorized e-bike use, yet no analysis addresses conflicts between e-bike users and shuttle bus traffic, pedestrian safety, or congestion at the turnaround. The agency should provide a traffic and safety analysis for the shared corridor before finalizing the rule.
- The notice provides a 30-day comment window (August 7 to September 6, 2026) for a change affecting a National Historic Landmark of exceptional national significance. It contains no explanation of why 30 days is sufficient, no discussion of outreach to resident communities in McCarthy and Kennecott who will be directly affected, and no mention of whether Tribal nations with cultural ties to the Kennecott area were consulted. The agency should extend the comment period and document Tribal and community consultation before finalizing.
- The notice deletes the explicit prohibition on e-bikes within designated wilderness from the affirmative list of open areas but adds a separate sentence stating wilderness use is not authorized. The proposed new language no longer anchors wilderness exclusion in the same structural clause as the other restrictions, creating potential ambiguity about whether wilderness boundaries are clearly defined for enforcement. The agency should confirm that the wilderness exclusion language meets the same legal standard as the current compendium text and explain why the restructuring does not create an enforcement gap.
- The notice claims the change does not expand e-bike use 'into sensitive or resource-intensive areas' but provides no resource inventory, no wildlife assessment, and no cultural resource baseline for the Kennecott NHL corridor to support that claim. Without baseline data, it is impossible to evaluate whether the corridor contains sensitive resources. The agency should release any resource condition assessments or inventories for the NHL corridor that informed this determination.
- Say something only you can say. The law requires the agency to consider and respond to substantive comments, and specifics are what make a comment substantive.
In the agency’s own words
2026 Proposed Compendium Update
Did the agency answer?
9 issues are on this record. The agency has not published its decision document yet, so each one stays pending until the agency answers.
Issues on the record, awaiting the decision
- PendingThe notice does not state which classes of electric bicycles (Class 1, 2, or 3) are authorized on the NHL corridor, even though the compendium section heading specifically references 'specific classes
The notice does not state which classes of electric bicycles (Class 1, 2, or 3) are authorized on the NHL corridor, even though the compendium section heading specifically references 'specific classes of electric bicycles.' The current language for the four named trails outside the NHL also does not specify class. Without a class designation, the compendium fails to restrict motor-assisted speeds or throttle-only operation, which have materially different impacts on pedestrians, horses, and historic resources. The agency should specify which e-bike classes are permitted on each corridor.
A hole PLAN found in the agency’s own notice, quote verified against the text
- PendingThe notice removes the explicit wilderness and Kennecott NHL exclusion language from the current compendium text and replaces it with new language, but provides no NEPA analysis, categorical exclusion
The notice removes the explicit wilderness and Kennecott NHL exclusion language from the current compendium text and replaces it with new language, but provides no NEPA analysis, categorical exclusion citation, or finding of no significant impact to support this change. A compendium update that opens a National Historic Landmark to a new class of motorized vehicle use requires at minimum a documented categorical exclusion with extraordinary circumstances review. The agency should publish the NEPA compliance determination, including any categorical exclusion documentation, before the comment period closes.
A hole PLAN found in the agency’s own notice, quote verified against the text
- PendingThe notice asserts the change 'is consistent with management in other parts of the park' but provides zero analysis, data, or comparison showing how e-bike use is managed elsewhere in WRST or how the
The notice asserts the change 'is consistent with management in other parts of the park' but provides zero analysis, data, or comparison showing how e-bike use is managed elsewhere in WRST or how the Kennecott NHL corridor compares to those areas. The 'Why Change is Warranted' section makes this claim without any supporting evidence. The agency should provide a written comparison of e-bike management across park units and explain why the NHL corridor meets the same criteria used elsewhere before finalizing this rule.
A hole PLAN found in the agency’s own notice, quote verified against the text
- PendingThe notice states that the change 'allows an additional non-automobile mode of travel for visitors, employees, and residents' but does not analyze the interaction between e-bikes and the existing shut
The notice states that the change 'allows an additional non-automobile mode of travel for visitors, employees, and residents' but does not analyze the interaction between e-bikes and the existing shuttle bus operation on the same corridor. The shuttle bus turnaround is named as the northern terminus of authorized e-bike use, yet no analysis addresses conflicts between e-bike users and shuttle bus traffic, pedestrian safety, or congestion at the turnaround. The agency should provide a traffic and safety analysis for the shared corridor before finalizing the rule.
A hole PLAN found in the agency’s own notice, quote verified against the text
- PendingThe notice provides a 30-day comment window (August 7 to September 6, 2026) for a change affecting a National Historic Landmark of exceptional national significance.
The notice provides a 30-day comment window (August 7 to September 6, 2026) for a change affecting a National Historic Landmark of exceptional national significance. It contains no explanation of why 30 days is sufficient, no discussion of outreach to resident communities in McCarthy and Kennecott who will be directly affected, and no mention of whether Tribal nations with cultural ties to the Kennecott area were consulted. The agency should extend the comment period and document Tribal and community consultation before finalizing.
A hole PLAN found in the agency’s own notice, quote verified against the text
- PendingThe notice deletes the explicit prohibition on e-bikes within designated wilderness from the affirmative list of open areas but adds a separate sentence stating wilderness use is not authorized.
The notice deletes the explicit prohibition on e-bikes within designated wilderness from the affirmative list of open areas but adds a separate sentence stating wilderness use is not authorized. The proposed new language no longer anchors wilderness exclusion in the same structural clause as the other restrictions, creating potential ambiguity about whether wilderness boundaries are clearly defined for enforcement. The agency should confirm that the wilderness exclusion language meets the same legal standard as the current compendium text and explain why the restructuring does not create an enforcement gap.
A hole PLAN found in the agency’s own notice, quote verified against the text
- PendingThe notice defines the authorized e-bike corridor by reference to a map attachment but provides no enforceable metes-and-bounds or written legal description of the NHL boundary crossing point or the s
The notice defines the authorized e-bike corridor by reference to a map attachment but provides no enforceable metes-and-bounds or written legal description of the NHL boundary crossing point or the shuttle bus turnaround location in the compendium text itself. Regulated boundaries in a compendium must be described with enough precision that a user in the field can determine compliance without a map. The agency should incorporate a written legal or spatial description of the corridor endpoints into the compendium language.
A hole PLAN found in the agency’s own notice, quote verified against the text
- PendingThe notice does not analyze impacts to the Kennecott Mines National Historic Landmark's historic character, contributing resources, or visitor experience from e-bike traffic.
The notice does not analyze impacts to the Kennecott Mines National Historic Landmark's historic character, contributing resources, or visitor experience from e-bike traffic. The National Historic Preservation Act Section 106 requires consideration of effects on historic properties, and the NHL designation signals exceptional national significance. The notice says nothing about whether Section 106 consultation occurred or whether the State Historic Preservation Officer or Advisory Council on Historic Preservation was notified. The agency should disclose any Section 106 consultation record before the rule takes effect.
A hole PLAN found in the agency’s own notice, quote verified against the text
- PendingThe notice claims the change does not expand e-bike use 'into sensitive or resource-intensive areas' but provides no resource inventory, no wildlife assessment, and no cultural resource baseline for t
The notice claims the change does not expand e-bike use 'into sensitive or resource-intensive areas' but provides no resource inventory, no wildlife assessment, and no cultural resource baseline for the Kennecott NHL corridor to support that claim. Without baseline data, it is impossible to evaluate whether the corridor contains sensitive resources. The agency should release any resource condition assessments or inventories for the NHL corridor that informed this determination.
A hole PLAN found in the agency’s own notice, quote verified against the text
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