Park Service could remove more than 500 trees on historic golf course Trump wants to redesign

WASHINGTON– The National Park Service has begun a new round of tree felling at a historic golf course near the National Mall as the Trump administration continues its plan to renovate the East Potomac Golf Links into a championship-level course.

More than 500 trees “that do not contribute to the historic landscape will be removed” as part of the rehabilitation project, the National Park Service said in a court filing Friday. “No healthy trees contributing to the historic golf course features” — including historic cherry trees — will be removed as part of the project, the park service said.

A total of 169 trees will be cut down starting Saturday, with another 90 trees expected to be cut down later, the agency said.

The felled trees come as President Donald Trump has moved to transform the course into a world-class golf course — part of his grand vision for Washington, D.C., where he has demolished historic structures, remade or renamed others and deployed the National Guard for more than a year.

Some residents worry that planned changes to the golf course — where Trump visited a cabinet member, a well-known golf course architect and plans — risk altering the character of a place that has served Washingtonians of all income levels for more than a century. Turning the park into a high-end golf course will result in higher fees and a likely loss of public space.

“The National Park Service is finally implementing a 7-year-old plan to combat tree overgrowth on the East Potomac Golf Course,” the Interior Department said in a statement Saturday. The department oversees the Park Service and other agencies that manage federal lands.

The renovation work will include selective tree and vegetation work to restore the course, the Interior Department said, adding that the work is intended to “help restore the historic character of the course and reopen views to monuments including the Washington Monument, the National War College, the Potomac River and the Washington Canal.”

The park service “recognizes the importance of trees to the park and its visitors. This carefully planned work is part of our required management of the park,” the release said.

The golf course will remain open to the public throughout the renovation, although some holes may be temporarily closed during the work, the agency said.

The 106-year-old public course has been embroiled in a lawsuit since February. The plaintiffs, including the DC Preservation League, say the Trump administration’s rebuild would violate the congressional law that created the park in 1897. The group sought an emergency shutdown order this spring due to concerns that work would begin immediately on the course.

Trump, an avid golfer, posted about the course on social media: “When completed, this course will have the capacity to host major golf tournaments, including the U.S. Open, Ryder Cup, PGA Championship and other major PGA Tour events,” he wrote in late June.

It is unclear when the course might host major tournaments, as locations are chosen several years in advance of the events.