Dominion Energy appears to be open to addressing the damage done by its extensive tree clearings along the Washington & Old Dominion (W&OD) Trail in Vienna and Dunn Loring.
The utility confirmed its interest in a new agreement to govern vegetation management for parts of the trail that overlap with its power lines less than 24 hours before NOVA Parks Executive Director Paul Gilbert gave an update on the situation to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and Vienna Town Council.
“That’s fantastic news,” Gilbert said at the May 21 interjurisdictional meeting, thanking local leaders who had convened at Vienna Town Hall as well as many individuals not in the council chambers for “putting pressure” on Dominion.
The Northern Virginia Regional Parks Authority (NOVA Parks), which owns and manages the W&OD Railroad Regional Park where the 45-mile trail is located, publicly sounded an alarm earlier this year about Dominion’s “aggressive” approach to trimming and cutting trees in a 4-mile stretch between its Clark and Idylwood substations.
When asked about the clearings, which began in November as part of a project to replace a transmission line, Dominion informed NOVA Parks that it had withdrawn from a voluntary 2005 memorandum of understanding (MOU) that limited tree cuttings to those directly at risk of interfering with power lines and required replantings, Gilbert previously said.
According to Dominion, more extensive forestry maintenance is necessary to meet federal regulations, with energy demands increasing and tree growth along the trail posing an “unacceptable risk” to the electrical grid.
However, NOVA Parks, residents and elected officials questioned the need to remove trees that didn’t appear to be in the way of power lines and argued that the loss of trees could irreparably damage the trail as both a recreational and environmental resource.
After NOVA Parks reported that Dominion intended to remove nearly all trees and vegetation along all 33 miles of the W&OD Trail that coincide with its power lines, elected officials throughout Northern Virginia, including the Fairfax County board, uniformly approved resolutions in March urging the utility to stop cutting trees and work out a new vegetation management agreement that would protect the electrical grid while also preserving as many trees as possible.
Getting every single affected locality on the same page, from Fairfax County down to the small towns of Vienna and Herndon, requires a “unique circumstance,” illustrating the W&OD Trail’s importance to the region, Gilbert observed at the May 21 meeting.
“The trail has been the spine of our multimodal, non-carbon transportation network,” he said. “It’s important for it not to be just a strip of asphalt.”
Dominion agreed in late March to reevaluate its tree removal plans for most of the trail, but it would finish ongoing work in the Clark-Idylwood project area in mid-April, as scheduled. A Dominion spokesperson confirmed to FFXnow on Tuesday (May 27) that the forestry work is now complete.
A new MOU drafted by NOVA Parks and sent to Dominion around Arbor Day (April 25) would require the utility to restore the affected 4 miles of trail in Vienna and Dunn Loring, coordinate any future cuttings with NOVA Parks, and commit to helping remove invasive species and replant cleared areas with native plants.
Expectations for what vegetation would be planted vary depending on the location of the removed tree, ranging from low-lying meadows directly under or around power lines to shrubs and new trees in areas that are farther away.
As of the May 21 meeting, NOVA Parks hadn’t yet dug into the “specifics of what Dominion might agree to,” but the utility said it’s interested in coming to a new MOU and replanting areas where trees have already been removed, according to Gilbert.
Dominion Energy media and community relations manager Aisha Khan says the utility has been working closely with NOVA Parks “over the last several weeks” on a long-term forestry maintenance plan, describing the discussions as “constructive.”
“We’re confident we can develop a plan that supports the trail’s natural habitat and preserves low-growing native species, while also protecting the safe and reliable operation of the transmission lines that serve our customers across the region,” Khan said in a statement. “We’ll continue keeping the public informed as our plans progress.”
Given that the previous MOU was also developed after an outcry over extensive tree clearings, Vienna Town Councilmember Roy Baldwin asked if the new document will include enforcement mechanisms and a set time period for when it will be in effect, so neither party can unilaterally back out.
Gilbert said more discussions will be needed to solidify those details, but he agreed that “it would be good to have more strings attached.”
Councilmember Jessica Ramakis stressed the need for the public to be informed if progress on an agreement stalls. Fairfax County Executive Bryan Hill recounted recently forcing a Dominion executive to walk the entire W&OD Trail with him.
“I told him you need a communications plan” for handling tree cuttings, Hill said. He noted that Vienna has the added complication of many residential backyards creeping outside their actual property lines.
Overall, Vienna and Fairfax County officials seemed hopeful that a “good outcome,” as Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn put it, is within reach.
“It looks like we got their attention after the damage was done,” Alcorn said.
