Tree removals at East Potomac golf course raise alarms
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A lawsuit hasn't stopped the Interior Department from removing trees from East Potomac Park. Photo: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for Democracy Forward
Crews are cutting down trees in East Potomac Park, putting park advocates on high alert over what comes next.
Why it matters: Golfers, bikers and birders are watching like hawks for signs the Trump administration will begin work on its planned overhaul of the municipal golf course on Sept. 1, as the president has said.
- But with that start date days away, the public still hasn't seen a final plan or price tag.
Between the lines: Crowdsourced photos posted by grassroots group Save East Po and Beltway Golfer Magazine show freshly cut stumps around the course.
- The Washington Post counted more than 60 trees that appeared to have been removed.
- "I'm not a botanist, but it's pretty obvious that the trees they're cutting down are not sick or dying," Alex Rosen, who leads Save East Po, tells Axios.
- A post from Beltway Golfer shows a stump it says belonged to a healthy cherry tree near the 14th hole.
The other side: The Interior Department tells Axios the tree work is "routine maintenance" targeting some "hazard trees, non-native invasive trees, and declining and dying trees."
- The department would not say whether the work is related to the planned golf course overhaul nor confirm that a cherry tree was removed.
- D.C.'s beloved cherry blossoms arrived in Washington as a gift from Japan in 1912.
- An article from the National Park Service says cherry trees are not considered invasive because they're ornamental and don't harm their surroundings.
Follow the money: The Interior Department awarded a $349,000 contract to Ross Tree Expert Company from Falls Church, Virginia, for tree and stump removal and pruning work at East Potomac Park, running from Aug. 19 to early October.
- Ross has been awarded more than $2 million in government contracts dating back to the George W. Bush administration, but this is the first that names East Potomac Park.
The latest: Save East Po and the Washington Area Bicyclist Association are hosting a demonstration Saturday at the park to call for accountability and transparency.
Catch up quick: Two golfers and the D.C. Preservation League sued the Interior Department in February to block the golf course overhaul.
- The plaintiffs claim the Trump administration violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by failing to prepare an environmental study or submit for public input.
- Federal judge Ana C. Reyes has stopped short of blocking the project. During a July hearing, Reyes told both sides to collaborate on a plan for the government to provide notice of any work on the course.
Reyes said in a May hearing that she wanted the government to notify her before it removed more than 10 trees, The Post reports.
- It's unclear whether the court was notified before the tree work began. The Trump administration didn't immediately respond to Axios' request for comment, and the plaintiffs declined to comment on pending litigation.
Flashback: Last October, Trump stunned Washington with the swift demolition of the White House's East Wing, setting off a legal fight over the approval process for his D.C. construction projects.