Judge Extends Halt on 299 More Trees at D.C. Golf Course as Misrepresentation Claims Mount
Updated
Updated · POLITICO · Oct 12
Judge Extends Halt on 299 More Trees at D.C. Golf Course as Misrepresentation Claims Mount
3 articles · Updated · POLITICO · Oct 12
Summary
A short-term restraining order now bars the National Park Service from cutting any more trees at East Potomac Golf Links until 2 p.m. Tuesday after Judge Ana Reyes said the government may have misled the court.
Reyes focused on an Oct. 6 declaration from acting Park Service Director Jessica Bowron that mentioned only routine maintenance even though senior Interior and Park Service officials had met a day earlier to advance a plan to remove hundreds of trees.
Under sworn questioning, superintendent Kevin Griess said the work stemmed from a 2019 landscaping restoration plan, while deputy operations chief Frank Lands said his instructions came from Interior official Greg Wischer, whom the court could not locate Monday.
About 430 trees were already felled Saturday and 299 more were targeted, fueling claims that officials concealed irreversible work tied to Trump's push to remake the public course into a national-level attraction.
Reyes said she may have erred by not issuing an order sooner and warned the case now involves potential multiple misrepresentations to the court, with the hearing set to resume Tuesday.