Beginning Saturday, National Park Service crews will start another major round of cutting at East Potomac Golf Links, according to a new filing in federal court.
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The Trump administration says it still has no final plan to remake East Potomac Golf Links. It does, however, have a plan to remove more than 500 of its trees.
Beginning Saturday, National Park Service crews will start another major round of cutting at the historic public golf course, according to a new filing in federal court. The first phase contains 169 trees marked for removal. A second phase covering 90 trees would follow, and the Park Service says as many as 529 could eventually come down.
The disclosure came as part of the government’s response to an expanded lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s proposed transformation of the century-old facility into an elite course capable of hosting major championships. Although Trump said earlier this year that construction would begin Sept. 1, his administration has not released a final design, cost, funding plan or closure schedule. The course remains open, and in Friday’s filing, NPS continued to describe the broader redesign as only a “potential project” that remains under evaluation.
According to the filing, the tree work is about something else entirely.
The Park Service says the removals are part of an effort to address years of deferred maintenance and restore the course’s historic character. That represents a broader rationale than the one the government offered for earlier tree-cutting.
The earlier removals included a cherry tree near the Blue Course’s 14th hole. The Park Service said the new project would not remove any healthy trees that are considered contributing features of the historic course, “such as healthy, historic cherry trees.”
At a September court hearing, a Justice Department attorney said 150 trees had already been removed: 77 invasive trees and 73 considered dead, dying or hazardous. The new declaration says the trees slated for removal “do not contribute to the historic landscape,” suggesting healthy trees could be cut if NPS does not consider them historically significant.
Crews will begin in an overgrown central area that NPS employees call “Trash Island.” Officials say it contains accumulated debris and invasive vegetation.
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The filing says that the tree project would proceed regardless of whether the administration ultimately moves forward with the redesign and will not alter holes, routing, greens, bunkers or landforms. The agency says it has separately begun the federal historic-preservation consultation process for the potential overhaul.
That distinction is central to the government’s request that a judge dismiss the case. The plaintiffs contend the administration has already begun implementing the larger redevelopment while attempting to treat tree-clearing and other preliminary work as separate maintenance projects. The government says NPS has independent authority to manage the property and that the current work does not commit it to any future design.
U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes declined last month to stop the earlier tree removal, accepting the government’s contention that it was maintenance rather than implementation of the overhaul. “I am not the Lorax. I do not speak for the trees,” she said. But she had asked the government to provide advance notice before removing more than 10 trees or bringing large equipment onto the course.
Scrutiny of the project has continued to grow. Cyclists and other park users have held rallies and organized a petition that has collected more than 5,000 signatures amid concerns that a redesigned course could eliminate Ohio Drive, the popular loop used by runners, cyclists, fishermen and families. The administration has not said what would become of the road.
Friday’s declaration also revealed that NPS received 20-50 temporary workers and additional funding that enabled it to accelerate the tree work. It did not identify the workers or the source and amount of the additional money.
For now, the Park Service is drawing a firm line between the immediate clearing and the still-undefined overhaul: The administration says it has not decided exactly what the golf course will become, but it has decided that hundreds of its trees may not remain.
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