Hello,
Andy from OSM's Data Working Group here.  We've often worked with land managers about helping understand why "just deleting the data" may not be the best approach.
The first and most obvious reason is that someone who doesn't know the history might just "re add" it based on aerial imagery or even something like Strava.  The best thing to do might be to leave something there that accurately reflects the situation on the ground.  That might be:
* highway=path with access tags set to "no" if there is something physically there but it is not open to the public.
* informal=yes if what is there was created informally
* Instead of "highway", set a tag such as "disused:highway" if nature is being allowed to reclaim what was there.
If you've got any more questions you can email us at data@openstreetmap.org with a subject line of "[Ticket#2025040410000312] kjm1511".  Another set of people who may be able to offer advice is the OSMUS Trails Working Group - https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Foundation/Local_Chapters/United_States#Trails_Working_Group .
Best Regards,
Andy
