National Park Service to Cut 529 Trees at D.C. Golf Course as Trump Eyes Redo
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Oct 10
National Park Service to Cut 529 Trees at D.C. Golf Course as Trump Eyes Redo
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Oct 10
Summary
Up to 529 trees will begin coming down Saturday at East Potomac Golf Course, after the National Park Service disclosed the plan in a court filing.
The agency said the work is part of a tree-management and cultural-landscape rehabilitation project, starting in an overgrown section known as “Trash Island,” and not dependent on Trump’s proposed championship-level redesign.
About 20 to 50 trained workers are available for the labor-intensive clearing, and the Park Service said healthy historic features such as cherry trees will not be removed.
The filing came because a federal judge ordered notice of any imminent, potentially irreversible work while the D.C. Preservation League challenges the renovation plan in court.
Trump had said in June that work could start by Sept. 1, but the administration later told the court no groundbreaking was underway; Judge Ana Reyes has warned she could intervene if plans advance without notice.