Officials with the Loudoun Soil and Water Conservation District on July 22 announced they’ve launched an investigation into a 2010 incident in which hundreds of trees and shrubs were clear cut from the Trump National Golf Course in Lowes Island.

The investigation will determine the impact the removal of the trees had on erosion control and shoreline stability.

Real estate mogul Donald Trump purchased the 800-acre golf course, once Lowes Island Club, in 2009 for $20 million.

In fall of 2010, employees of the Trump Organization removed more than 465 trees from the property, including the native species of American elm, green ash and black locust – all well suited for protecting the nearby Potomac River from runoff pollution, according to the Conservation District.

At the time of the removal, the Trump Organization said the move was necessary because the trees were obstructing golfers’ view of the river. In addition, they said the removal of the greenery helped the environment because the trees were stressed and eroding the soil.

The Trump Organization later replanted about 100 trees elsewhere on the property, but have yet to reforest the shoreline, according to Chris Simmons, the Conservation District’s vice chairman.

“A grove of trees a mile away does nothing to protect the waterway because the water can flow around it,” Simmons said.

The trees’ removal by the Trump Organization is allowed since there are no laws on the books in Loudoun County that prevents such an endeavor.

Loudoun supervisors were working on legislation that, if passed, would have prevented future incidents like the one at the golf course.

The Chesapeake Bay Preservation Ordinance would have required property owners living near waterways to maintain a vegetative riparian buffer and obtain a building permit for land disturbances larger than 2,500-square-feet, among other restrictions.

However, work on the ordinance was tabled in May while supervisors await word from the state on mandated regulations that will soon be handed down from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

But the damage is done at the Trump National Golf Course, Simmons said.

The trees and shrubs, he said, reduced topsoil erosion and prevented pollutants from entering the Potomac River – the source of drinking water for Fairfax and Loudoun counties.
Loudoun buys water from Fairfax County.

“The cost for Trump’s flow of sediment and pollutants is now borne by county residents, who pay neighboring Fairfax County to filter water at its Potomac River treatment plant,” said Simmons.