Presidential vanity project runs amok the historic, healthy trees of the National Mall.
WASHINGTON – On the weekend of October 10, at least 430 healthy, mature trees were removed from the East Potomac Golf Course, a National Park Service-managed unit of the National Mall. Examining past social media posts published by President Trump, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes concluded, “that government officials raced to undertake the [tree management plan] because President Trump demands haste on his redesign….” Fast Company reports that healthy, mature oak trees, willows and maple trees were among the removed trees. Other trees were potentially effected–the National Park Service inventory of the site confirms that historic Civilian Conservation Corps-planted cedar trees, and cherry trees, “thought to be the sole surviving specimens of the first cherry trees donated by Japan from the city of Tokyo, which arrived in Washington, DC in January 1910,” are among the golf course’s tree inventory.
Yesterday, the Trump Administration announced a months-long closure of the golf course for major renovation. This announcement follows recent findings that an expedited work order directly from the Oval Office led to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool damage.
In response, GreenLatinos issues the following statements:
“Through our Urban Greening Initiative, GreenLatinos and our community partners have planted 2,399 trees, distributed 600 trees, inventoried nearly 20,000 trees, and provided forestry workforce training to 96 individuals nationwide. These efforts have helped mitigate more than 10 million gallons of stormwater runoff and remove approximately 24,000 pounds of air pollutants. Yet another one of President Trump’s vanity projects has left our nation more vulnerable to climate disasters and without another culturally important green space, underscoring the critical importance of investing in urban forestry and stewardship programs like ours in communities across the country.” said Pedro Hernández, GreenLatinos’ California State Director.
“Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has failed the National Park Service by allowing the President to run amok the historic, healthy and mature trees of the National Mall. In light of the Trump administration blocking nearly $26 million in National Park Service funding for 133 national park project agreements related to wildfire mitigation, trail maintenance, invasive species management, cultural resource preservation and more, it’s evident that President Trump is abandoning projects that matter to families for his vanity projects,” said Olivia Juarez, GreenLatinos Public Land Program Director.
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NOTE: GreenLatinos is ONE WORD. GreenLatinos convenes an active comunidad of environmental, conservation, and climate justice leaders rooted in the power and wisdom of our culture, united to uplift our priorities, and driven to secure our political, economic, cultural, and environmental liberation.
