NPS starts clearing up to 500 Hains Point trees

The National Park Service began removing what could be nearly 500 trees Saturday, Oct. 10, at East Potomac Golf Links on Hains Point in Southwest DC, DC News Now reported.

The latest clearing would be more than three times the roughly 150 trees the federal government said last month had already been removed from the course, according to the report.

For people who use Hains Point, the work affects a prominent public recreation area in Ward 6, where the golf course sits near parkland used by golfers and other visitors. DC News Now reported that the crews were working in a heavily wooded section along the course known as “trash island.”

The National Park Service filed paperwork for the project with a federal judge on Friday, the day before the work began, DC News Now reported. The report did not describe the contents of the filing or say whether the filing required further court action before crews started cutting trees.

The agency has called the work a landscape restoration project, according to DC News Now. That description matters because the report said this tree removal is separate from plans President Trump has announced for the historic golf course.

Those other plans already face lawsuits and broad public opposition, DC News Now reported. The report did not say that the latest tree-clearing project is part of those challenged plans, and it did not identify any new lawsuit over the work that began Saturday.

Reaction at the course was mixed in the report. Nand Vommi, a golfer from Arlington, Va., told DC News Now: “It’s terrible. I mean, I’m not the best golfer, so less obstacles in the way, you know.”

Vommi added: “I’m not complaining, but at least from a nature perspective, you know, obviously got to be conscious of that.”

Several details remain unclear from the report. DC News Now said there was no word on how long crews would take to remove the trees, and the report did not say how many had been removed by Saturday night.

The report also did not specify whether all nearly 500 trees would be cut, what kinds of trees were affected, or how the National Park Service defined the restoration goals for the wooded section of the course. The next public marker is any additional information from the agency or the court filing tied to the project.