Judge Blocks Tree Removal and Requires Notice Before Changes at Washington's East Potomac Golf Course
U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes barred the Interior Department and National Park Service from cutting more trees in East Potomac Park without a court order and required 10 business days' notice before closures or irreversible changes. The Justice Department has appealed.
U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes of the federal district court in Washington granted a preliminary injunction on Monday, Oct. 26, barring the Interior Department and the National Park Service from cutting or damaging more trees in East Potomac Park without a court order, according to the court's order. The order also requires at least 10 business days' written notice before any closure of East Potomac Golf Course, a public course on the peninsula south of the National Mall, or irreversible change to the park.
Each notice under the rule must name who authorized and who will carry out the work and must state "whether the action is taken, in whole or in part, in connection with the Washington National Plan or any Fazio design." The order also names Fazio Designs, Tom Fazio and Gavin Fazio among those Interior must notify by Oct. 30.
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Reyes's 70-page opinion states that the D.C. Preservation League and golfers Dave Roberts and Alex Dickson sued in February in DC Preservation League v. Department of the Interior. She concluded that the "Washington National Plan," which plaintiffs describe as a plan to replace the course with "a championship-style golf course suitable for professional tournaments," exists and became final "well before October 15, 2026."
The Park Service cut down nearly 430 trees on the course on Oct. 10. Government officials tied the work to a 2019 Park Service Cultural Landscape Report, which Reyes called pretextual, NPR reported. Justice Department lawyers said in an Oct. 18 filing that the plan "is not final because the Park Service has not completed its review" and that details are subject to change. On Oct. 18, President Trump said that work on a "Fazio Design" would begin Nov. 15 and the new course would open in about 15 months. Hours after Monday's ruling, he posted that the course would close as scheduled on Nov. 15 and that the administration would appeal.
On Tuesday, Oct. 27, the Justice Department filed a two-page notice of appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The notice does not state the government's arguments, and the appeals court has not ruled. Reyes also directed the government on Tuesday to clarify "whether any plan exists to close East Potomac Golf Course on or around November 15, 2026," with a response due Wednesday afternoon. That response, any closure notice and the timing of an appeals court decision are not known, and no cost, budget or construction contract for a redesign has been made public.
Elsewhere, local governments are rebuilding public golf facilities in open meetings and with set budgets. Five Ponds Golf Club in Warminster, a township-owned course in Pennsylvania, was scheduled to break ground this week on a new clubhouse that township officials say will be repaid with golf-course revenue.
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East Potomac opened in 1920, designed by Walter J. Travis, at twenty-five cents a round and grew from nine holes to 36, played as Red, White and Blue courses. Nine holes cost as little as $17. A championship redesign could change its layout, trees and price, but while the case and the appeal proceed, the course cannot be closed or reshaped without 10 business days' notice to the court.
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