<p class="wp-block-paragraph">A federal judge has temporarily blocked the National Park Service from cutting down any more trees at the East Potomac Golf Links after the service began removing hundreds of trees on the golf course on Saturday.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">District Judge Ana C. Reyes, appointed by President Biden, issued a minute order ahead of a hearing scheduled for 10 a.m. on Monday. The order requires the Trump administration to halt the removal of any trees from the Washington, D.C. golf course until Tuesday at 7 a.m. This order and hearing are part of an ongoing legal dispute between the Trump administration and historic preservationists who are seeking to prevent renovations to the golf course.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The DC Preservation League, which is suing the Interior Department, requested a temporary restraining order from Reyes, stating that the administration removed 529 trees from the course on Saturday. However, the Trump administration reported during the hearing that it had removed 430 trees over the weekend.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">During the Monday morning hearing, Reyes criticized the administration for proceeding with the tree removals without her approval, stating that the action “has cost the government all of its credibility,” according to Politico.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Reyes had previously informed the Department of Justice in May that it needed to notify the court if it planned to remove more than 10 trees from the property. When DOJ lawyers indicated they were unaware of the tree removal plans over the weekend, Reyes remarked, “Ignorance is not an excuse,” as reported by the outlet.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Reyes clarified in her order that trees removed for “routine maintenance” purposes are not exempt from her order, following a statement from an NPS official that the agency was conducting the tree removal as part of efforts to “address deferred maintenance needs” on the property.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Kevin Griess, superintendent of NPS’s National Mall and Memorial Parks sector, submitted a declaration on Friday stating that the agency would be removing no more than 529 trees that he claimed “do not contribute to the historic landscape” as part of a park maintenance and cultural landscaping project. DOJ attorneys noted in their court filing on Friday that NPS’s “restoration activities are a separate agency decision” and are distinct from the renovation issue at hand.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The DC Preservation League had requested a 14-day temporary restraining order on tree removals in its emergency motion submitted on Sunday.</p>