During an hour-long hearing Monday, a federal judge asked several National Park Service officials why plans to cut down trees on the East Potomac Golf Course had moved forward, despite her earlier warnings to the court that advance notice should be given before trees were cut.
U.S. District Court Judge Ana Reyes blasted the government and ordered a halt to all tree cutting at the East Potomac Golf Course until at least Tuesday afternoon, after the NPS began a new round of tree felling at the historic Washington D.C. golf course over the holiday weekend. President Donald Trump has shared his vision for transforming the golf course into a world-class golf venue as part of his broader plans to transform the District.
“I have at least two to 300 additional trees that are apparently going to be cut down, and I don’t believe the government won’t cut them down unless there is an order in place not to do so,” said Reyes, who has previously rejected plaintiffs’ requests to order the work stopped.
Reyes posed questions Monday to National Mall and Memorial Parks Superintendent Kevin Griess and NPS Deputy Operations Director Frank Lands, calling on officials to testify about the removal of 430 trees Saturday, including who ordered the removal and when they received the order.
According to their testimony, the tree removal followed a meeting last week, on Oct. 5, and the landscape changes were part of a 2019 cultural landscape report. They argued that this plan is separate from the Trump administration’s proposal, which faces legal challenges from the DC Preservation League and two residents.
Lands testified that the work needed to be done as soon as “practical,” without impacting golf course operations and that there was “no specific emergency.” Reyes said she intends to press the Interior Department to explain why the trees were cut down over the holiday weekend, if there was no urgency to complete the work.
Reyes said she would extend a temporary restraining order, originally scheduled to expire Tuesday morning, until 2 p.m. to allow the court to hear testimony from Greg Wischer, the Interior Department’s deputy chief of staff.
The judge said she may extend the ban on felling trees, for up to 14 days, after hearing his testimony.
In granting the plaintiff’s lawyer’s request, she also asked the lawyer to develop language that will require the government to give three business days’ notice before changes, such as felling trees, are made to the golf course.
“I am beyond disappointed in the government right now,” Reyes said. “I wanted you all to be better than you were.”
Shortly before closing the three-hour hearing, Reyes said: “The questions are whether or not I was lied to, whether or not I was lied to in the statements about the plan, whether or not I was lied to about the timing of things and whether or not I was lied to about what kind of notice the court was going to receive.”
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The emergency hearing comes after the NPS wrote Friday that more than 500 trees “that do not contribute to the historic landscape” would be removed as part of the rehabilitation project. The agency said it planned to cut down 169 trees starting Saturday, with another 90 expected later.
“I’m absolutely not amused right now. I don’t know how I could have said more clearly that I didn’t want what was going to happen to happen. I gave the government the benefit of the doubt that they wouldn’t do exactly what they did,” Reyes said at the start of the hearing Monday morning. “Each time I have given the government the benefit of the doubt, and each time I have made it clear that I want to be notified. »
She explained that the administration only gave the court and plaintiffs 12 hours notice of the tree felling on Friday, while the federal government’s legal defense, the Department of Justice, was notified of the tree felling on Thursday, October 8.
“As much benefit of the doubt as I gave the government, no one could have thought or ignored the fact that the plaintiffs should have been informed immediately,” Reyes said, adding that she was “furious” that the government failed to keep its promises to the court.
Griess said during the hearing that the agency used a 2019 cultural landscape report as a guide for redevelopment of the park and golf course, referencing its early years of operation in the 1920s as the ultimate goal.
“The CLR was seven years old at that point. I didn’t think I had the staff or resources available to me internally to implement any plan. At the same time, I didn’t know exactly who was responsible, (National Links Trust) or myself. So while I was in discussion with staff, learning and being briefed on the significant period of the original golf course, I hadn’t developed a plan, and it wasn’t relevant to the conversation in May,” Griess said.
Griess said in May that this directive to manage potentially dangerous trees came from the office of the National Park Service’s deputy director for land operations, whom Reyes also ordered to appear in his courtroom. Lands testified that the trees flagged for removal were selected based on the report’s criteria, including invasive or invasive plants.
Lands told the judge the tree management project was his idea and that no one asked him to carry out the tree removal. He said it had been two or three months since he last spoke with a White House official about his proposal to renovate the golf course.
Griess said he submitted a tree management plan on Monday, Oct. 5, and it was approved by Interim Director Jessica Bowron the next day. He testified that he received notice from staff on October 8 that they were going to remove the trees and that he only spoke to Justice Department lawyers when he received the declaration for Saturday’s work.
Marissa Ann Piropato, deputy head of the Justice Department, said she was “unaware” of future plans planned for the golf course following Saturday’s tree felling.
Griess added that due to the America 250 events in Washington, D.C., the NPS received funding for an “additional workforce” of approximately 40 NPS staff members for the city’s beautification efforts under Trump’s order, and they were assigned to work at the East Potomac Golf Course last week.
He noted that in this tree management plan, based on the CLR, there is a map of which trees need to be cut and others which will be protected, which was planned with the arborists during the last week of September.
Griess, however, said he was not aware, in an official capacity, of the president’s plan for the golf course: “I am aware of what has already been posted on social media, other than that. But internally, professionally, I have not seen any plans. I have not been informed of any plans.”
In September, the National Park Service quietly awarded a roughly $390,000 contract to a Massachusetts-based company, Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, to perform environmental and historic preservation work on the route. The park service has released a proposed construction contract worth up to $49 million, with an expected solicitation date of Jan. 31, 2027.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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