Officials Await New Dominion Energy Plan on ‘clear-cut’ W&OD Trail Work

by Gene Powell, Staff Writer

A string of trees along the W&OD trail at the Freeman Store and Museum in central Vienna were among hundreds cut down this spring in an initial phase of "clear-cutting" along the trail by Dominion Energy to protect power lines. Photo by Gene Powell.

Northern Virginia officials are waiting for a detailed response from Dominion Energy that they hope will provide for significant trailside tree and bush restoration and an end to the public utility’s “clear-cutting” along the W&OD multipurpose trail.

Dominion agreed to a mid-March pause that stopped the clearing work from moving into the Reston area in the coming weeks. Dominion's two-year plan includes major trimming and clearing along the 33 miles of the 45-mile trail, the stretch of the trail that has the utility’s overhead transmission lines.

Removal of hundreds of trees and shrubs earlier this year along a four-mile stretch of the trail, from Dunn Loring through Vienna, prompted an unprecedented collaboration in opposition to the Dominion work by three counties and several towns along the W&OD.

NOVA Parks, which prompted the unified response, was critical of a January offer from Dominion to replant 50 acres. Executive Director Paul Gilbert said the offer fell far short of “hundreds of acres” that would be cleared.

The clearing over the winter months was coupled with power line work. Dominion notified NOVA in November that it intended to ignore a 20-year-old non-binding agreement with the park to coordinate overall tree and brush maintenance.

In defending the tree-and-brush effort, Dominion Energy has said, “The work we are doing along the W&OD trail is vitally important to protect the safety and reliability of the power grid … It has been 20 years since we have done significant forestry maintenance along this transmission corridor.

The company also has cited possible fines for not meeting “new” federal regulations about maintenance work. But Gilbert said those standards have been in place since 2007.” It’s hard to take that argument seriously. Are they just getting around to it?” he said.

Dominion has a right to control trees and shrubs in a 100-foot wide “easement” that runs from the W&OD trailhead in Shirlington through Arlington, Fairfax, and Loudoun counties to west of Leesburg, where its power lines diverge from the park. The park and trail continue another 12 miles to Purcellville

In an interview with The Reston Letter, Gilbert praised a “very remarkable day,” March 18, on which the three counties and cities and towns along the trail all adopted the same resolution, asking Dominion to halt work and change its plans. Gilbert said NOVA Parks wants to move forward with Dominion on a plan to “fix the damage” and “develop a protocol for tree-cutting in the future.”

Hunter Mill Superintendent Walter Alcorn–whose district includes Reston and Herndon–introduced the common resolution at the Fairfax Board of Supervisors, calling on Dominion to return to the previous program of to “selective pruning” of trees, to set a future height limit on trees and shrubs that will encourage growth of native vegetation, and to collaborate with NOVA Parks on a broader plan to create beneficial “pollinator gardens.”

And a March 28 statement from the Reston Association said, "At this time, we have not been made aware of scheduled plans to prune trees along the stretch of the W&OD that crosses RA property and/or lies adjacent to members' homes. If and when that occurs, we look forward to working with Dominion and NOVA Parks to ensure necessary pruning is completed while at the same time maintaining the environmental health of the area through targeted replanting and monitoring of any invasive species."