Simple in more ways than you think.
If you read hundreds of comments filed in opposition to eMTBs with the NFS, NPS, and BLM in the last few months, what you discover is that most, maybe 90%, are in opposition to ALL mountain bikes. To our opponents, a bike is a bike. We are all on vehicles, mechanized machines. That is what they see and don’t want on non-motorized trails.
Mountain bikers, whether they ride mechanized or motorized, are always going to have to defend their trail access. We don’t do that by throwing eMTBs under the bus, as too many trad mountain bikers do.
Short-sighted and ignores their own history.