NOVA Parks pushes back on Dominion Energy’s tree cutting project along W&OD Trail

Earlier this week, representatives from Dominion Energy and NOVA Parks did a walk through of the trail, identifying trees that would be removed to safely maintain equipment that carries power along the popular trail.

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Dominion Energy to resume targeted tree-cutting project along W&OD Trail

A major tree-cutting project along the W&OD Trail in Loudoun County is set to resume this month. But Northern Virginia parks’ officials are pushing back on how Dominion Energy plans to address the root of the problem.

Two months after pausing the project, Dominion Energy said it will resume removing specific trees to maintain the safety and reliability of the electric grid. The plans were put on hold in late March in response to complaints from counties and towns along the popular walking and biking path.

But Paul Gilbert, head of the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority, or NOVA Parks, expressed apprehension about what Dominion has planned in a letter to the utility on Friday.

Gilbert his group is “concerned with the scope” of the tree removal and the “lack of a plan” to restore trees to the areas that they are working in.

His letter comes after Amanda Keyes, the manager of electric transmission forestry for the utility, documented the details of the work in a Thursday letter addressed to Gilbert.

It’s set to begin June 16 and last three to four weeks.

According to Dominion, representatives from the energy utility and NOVA Parks did a walk through of the trail, identifying trees that would be removed, so that Dominion can safely maintain equipment that carries power along the former railroad line.

But Gilbert seems to have a different take on those events.

He wrote that NOVA Parks staff members didn’t ask or support the cutting of any trees. Gilbert said they did ask for work related to reducing and managing invasive species.

What has Dominion planned?

According to Dominion, the plan called for the removal of 58 cedars, Virginia pines, and mixed hardwood trees, which are located directly beneath the transmission lines between Reston and Herndon.

Dominion said 31 of the 58 trees in this grouping had been previously identified as undesirable vegetation by NOVA Parks, which owns and manages the W&OD.

Selective pruning, rather than removal will be done on trees along the trail between Tall Pines Court and Leier Place in Loudoun County.

Of the 67 trees to be removed in Loudoun County, 73% are considered to be undesirable based on the previous memorandum of understanding between Dominion and NOVA Parks, according to the energy utility.

In Arlington County, four dead deodar cedar trees will be removed near the intersection of South Oxford Street and South Four Mile Run Drive. At the request of Arlington County, invasive bamboo near Glencarlyn Park will be removed, according to Dominion.

What is NOVA Parks asking for?

“We understand the cherished nature of the W&OD Trail as a beloved community resource,” wrote Keyes, saying Dominion would continue to work with NOVA Parks to update vegetation management activity along the trail.

The park system is calling for Dominion to take a more “selective” approach that would involve only cutting trees that pose “significant threats to power reliability.”

“Other than the one area of four dead trees in Arlington, you do not seem to offer any replanting/restoration solutions. This needs to be part of the plan,” Gilbert wrote.

The park system wrote that the four-mile section of W&OD Park where trees were removed last year is now being “overrun with invasive plants” without restoration or preventative plans in place.

“We appreciate that there may be some specific trees that need to be addressed for summer power reliability; however, the timing of any cutting is important,” Gilbert said. “Issues like bird nesting and gaps in time between cutting and replanting have significant environmental impacts.”

Dominion has not responded to Gilbert’s Friday letter urging for changes to the plan.

WTOP’s Jessica Kronzer and Valerie Bonk contributed to this report.

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