Rally Against Widespread Tree Removal On W&OD Trail Planned In Vienna

VIENNA, VA — After clear cutting of trees affected a portion of the Washington & Old Dominion Trail in the Vienna area, local advocates will hold a rally in support of maintaining the trail's trees.

The Rally for W&OD will be held on Saturday, Sept. 6, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. on the Vienna Town Green (144 Maple Avenue E), which the trail runs through. The rally seeks to stop tree cutting along the trail and get elected officials and decision makers to negotiate a new agreement on the tree maintenance policies. Event sponsors include the Sierra Club Great Falls Group, Washington Area Bicyclist Association, Fairfax Alliance for Better Bicycling, Coalition for Smarter Growth, Nature Forward and Fairfax Families for Safe Streets.

The Washington Area Bicyclist Association also has a petition calling on Dominion Energy to negotiate a new agreement with NOVA Parks, return to its selective pruning policy for trees and commit to a tree restoration plan.

"A park and trail without trees makes for a less vibrant ecosystem, worsens stormwater runoff, and is simply a much less pleasant place to spend time in for the many thousands of daily visitors," the petition states.

SEE ALSO:

• After Tree Clear Cutting, Tree Planting Planned Along Part Of Trail In Vienna
• Letter To The Editor: Protect Vienna’s Green Spaces from Invasive Species
• Former Alexandria Mayor Named New Director Of NOVA Parks

As FFX Now first reported, the clear cutting of trees from November 2024 to March 2025 affected four miles of the W&OD Trail in the Vienna and Dunn Loring areas. Dominion Energy carried out the tree removals for an electric line replacement project to address growing electricity needs. The electricity utility has transmission lines along 33 of the W&OD Trail's 45 miles and said it hasn't done significant forestry work in 20 years. The company says tree growth reaching the power lines or from fallen trees poses reliability concerns, and the utility could face penalties for not meeting federal requirements.

Several local governing boards — the Town of Vienna and county boards in Fairfax County, Arlington County and Loudoun County — requested a return to selective pruning and tree removals only when necessary. That's what Dominion Energy did under a previous 2005 memorandum of understanding with NOVA Parks that the utility has now backed away from.

While Dominion Energy paused its large-scale plan for tree removals along other parts of the trail, WJLA reported that work happened again this summer. According to the news outlet, NOVA Parks sent Dominion Energy a new proposed memorandum of understanding in April with a plan for tree restoration and invasive species control with tree removals. NOVA Parks has shared a concern about a greater spread of invasive plants in areas where trees were clear cut.

Dominion Energy first purchased the right-of-way that is now the W&OD Trail in 1968 to develop transmission lines. That came in the year Washington & Old Dominion Railroad stopped running. NOVA Parks tried for years to buy the right-of-way, and that happened in 1977. However, Dominion Energy maintained a broader right-of-way for its transmission lines. The first W&OD Trail segment opened in 1974 in the City of Falls Church. Today, it runs about 45 miles between Shirlington in Arlington County and Purcellville in Loudoun County.