Since November 2024, Dominion Energy has been clear-cutting shrubs and trees on a wide swath of the
W&OD Trail to reestablish the entire width along a four-mile section from Vienna to Dunn Loring. According to Paul Gilbert, executive director of NOVA Parks, it also plans to do the same into Reston.
The Washington and Old Dominion Railroad Regional Park is a 100-foot-wide linear regional park featuring the W&OD Trail administered and maintained by NOVA Parks. The inter-jurisdictional organization owns and operates over 10,000 acres of parkland: woodlands, streams, trails, nature reserves, countryside and historic sites in Northern Virginia.
Gilbert said that through late fall 2024 and early winter 2025, with few people using the snow-covered paved trail, Dominion Energy has been replacing the wires on the electric transmission line above the W&OD Trail in the Town of Vienna, Mill Street NE, to Sandburg Street, (Mile Markers 9-12) and Mill Street NE in the Town of Vienna, clear-cutting all brush and trees under the line and in the easement.
Dominion Energy withdrew from the 2005 Memorandum of Understanding on Vegetative Management of the W&OD Trail, Gilbert says. The Memo expresses an understanding and clarifies the parties' roles, responsibilities and goals. It is a non-binding formal document that does not carry the same legal weight as a contract. Actions are “voluntary,” Gilbert said.
“This creates a vacuum that is not great for Dominion, NOVA Parks, or the public we all serve,” Gilbert wrote in a Dec. 12, 2024, letter to Mark S. Allen, Dominion Energy. “The W&OD Trail is unlike any other right-of-way. It is a high-use park in the middle of an urban area with thousands of neighbors and millions of annual users. … As an urban park, these trees are viewed by the community as having a high value and significance. This creates both ecological and political considerations, unlike other rights-of-way.” Gilbert said in the letter to Allen.
Gilbert offered Allen two proposals in his Dec. 12 letter, one of which he called a “win-win,” investing in transforming areas of this corridor into large-scale pollinator gardens. “Carefully managed native grasses and wildflowers could significantly increase the biodiversity and ecological value. This kind of vegetation poses no long-term threat to the power infrastructure and would result in management strategies that would keep the right-of-way clear,” he wrote. Gilbert’s second proposal was to replace the 2005 MOU with an agreement between Dominion and NOVA Parks, in which “Dominion committed to the long-term costs of creating the pollinator garden and maintaining it for every acre impacted by cutting.”
The clear-cutting by Dominion Energy continued, and in response, on Feb. 6, 2025, Del. Holly Seibold and Chairman Jeff McKay sent separate letters to Edward Baine, president of Dominion.
Seibold took Dominion Energy to task for its “decision to move forward with extensive tree-cutting along the Washington & Old Dominion (W&OD) Trail without a comprehensive plan to mitigate the environmental and canopy damage this plan has, and will continue to cause.”
“Dominion's rejection of the 2005 Memorandum of Understanding on vegetative management is extremely unfortunate. Even more unfortunate is Dominion’s decision to decline NOVA Parks' proposal to replant native grasses, flowers, and shrubs to establish pollinator habitats, citing the ongoing financial support required to implement this plan,” Siebold added. While Dominion offered a one-time donation, the amount fell “significantly short of what is needed to address the environmental damage caused by these actions.”
Siebold urged Dominion Energy “to reconsider its position and work collaboratively with NOVA Parks to reaffirm a vegetative management agreement and/or approve NOVA Parks’ proposed plan for native replanting with adequate financial support.”
McKay wrote that Dominion’s tree-cutting is a detriment to the park space and communities in Vienna, Dunn Loring, and Reston. Like Siebold and Gilbert, McKay expressed concern about the loss of vegetation and sought a solution. McKay said he appreciated Dominion’s role in providing energy and the need to update infrastructure accordingly, and he expressed hope that the organizations can “work together to achieve common goals and meet expectations in providing the highest quality to our community.”
McKay said, “I am troubled that Dominion will not consider a new agreement with NOVA Parks. It is critical that Dominion assumes responsibility of the damages and consider ensuring sustainable land practices are initiated at the time of initial disturbance for capital projects and establishing maintenance practices that would reduce herbicide use by also including native species seeding and planting.”
Nearly two weeks later, on Feb. 19, Edward H. Baine, president of Utility Operations and Dominion Energy Virginia, sent a letter to McKay and included Supervisor Walter Alcorn who represents Vienna, Reston and a portion of Herndon, all areas the W&OD Trail runs through.
Baine said he understood the importance of supporting “a cherished community feature, such as the Trail” and “ensuring critical energy reliability and safety for all customers in the area and across the Commonwealth.”
Baine said that after further discussions with representatives of NOVA Parks and local jurisdictions, Dominion is currently developing a long-term plan that he would share with NOVA Parks by the end of February.
“Items in this plan include topics previously discussed with NOVA Parks, such as pollinator habitat plots and enhanced control of invasive species that will align with Dominion Energy’s requirements to maintain a safe and reliable electric transmission grid,” Baine wrote.
“I’m encouraged that Dominion Energy recognizes the need to develop a long-term plan to avoid the impacts of widespread tree culling, and I look forward to learning more about their proposal to work with NOVA Parks to restore the areas where they have cut trees along the trail,” Alcorn said.
“As an urban park, these trees are viewed by the community as having a high value and significance. This creates both ecological and political considerations, unlike other rights-of-way.”
— Paul Gilbert, executive director of NOVA Parks
“Dominion's rejection of the 2005 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on vegetative management is extremely unfortunate. Even more unfortunate is Dominion’s decision to decline NOVA Parks' proposal to replant native grasses, flowers, and shrubs to establish pollinator habitats, citing the ongoing financial support required to implement this plan.”
— Del. Holly Seibold
“I am troubled that Dominion will not consider a new agreement with NOVA Parks. It is critical that Dominion assumes responsibility of the damages.”
— Chairman Jeff McKay, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors
and consider ensuring sustainable land practices are initiated at the time of initial disturbance for capital projects and establishing maintenance practices that would reduce herbicide use by also including native species seeding and planting.”
— Chairman Jeff McKay, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors