Updated at 12:45 p.m. – After complaints from two nearby residents and a call from County Council member Roger Berliner temporarily halted tree-cutting operations Friday at a Potomac campground, the National Park Service said it plans to resume the tree-cutting and will probably do so in the next few days.
John Noel, deputy superintendent for the C&O Canal National Historical Park, told Bethesda Beat Monday that he went to the Swain’s Lock Recreation Site to examine the 26 trees proposed to be removed and 32 others proposed to be pruned at the site’s campground. He agreed that the trees are rotting and in danger of falling on park users below.
Rather than call in another arborist to judge the trees, Noel said the tree-cutting would resume after he is able to explain the situation to Barbara Brown and Sylvia Diss, the two Potomac residents who first raised concerns about removing trees at Swain’s Lock.
Noel said two National Park Service arborists and three arborists with the tree-cutting contractor have already reviewed which trees are rotting and are in agreement. He said C&O Canal Park officials regularly review the health of trees in recreation areas throughout the park’s 184.5 miles of land.
“Having a sixth person come out and look at it would be ridiculous,” Noel said. “We don’t think it’s worth taxpayers’ money to do that.”
The complaints from Brown and Diss led to Berliner calling park Superintendent Kevin Brandt, who agreed to halt the work until another review could be done.
Brown, who more than 10 years ago led the charge against Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder’s clear-cutting of trees between his Potomac property and the C&O Canal Park, said Tuesday that the tree-cutting operation began last week.
"There aren't any hazardous trees down there. It's a beautiful campground," Brown said. "They are basically clear cutting it and there's no explanation except that they don't like the type of trees there."
Noel says there are hazardous trees around the campground.
“There are a lot of qualified people looking at this and the last thing we want to do is cut a tree down that’s a healthy tree,” Noel said. “But in our campgrounds, our visitors have a certain expectation of safety. People are laying in a tent. They are picnicking at a table. There are dead branches on these trees that have the potential to fall.”
Most of the 58 trees to be removed or pruned are maple and boxelder trees, Noel said. He said the tree-cutting would leave plenty of healthy trees on the Swain’s Lock campground and that “you’re not going to notice any difference in the tree canopy.”
“In many cases, the trees are rotten from the center of the tree and you can’t tell as an unskilled arborist whether this tree that looks fairly decent isn’t completely rotten in the center,” Noel said. “We’re constantly evaluating our trees, especially in these high-use areas.”
Stump of a tree cut down at Swain's Lock, via Barbara Brown
Some of the trees marked for removal or pruning at the Swain's Lock campground in Potomac, via Barbara Brown
