Dominion Energy left a 20-year agreement with Nova Parks, started cutting down trees

VIENNA, Va (7News) — 7News walked along the Washington & Old Dominion trail in Vienna, Virginia, where Dominion Energy recently cut down hundreds of trees.

"So show me what we are talking about right here?" asked I-Team Investigator Scott Taylor.

"Ya, we go walking on the trail, and it's just stump after stump. We don't have any replanting at this point. We hope that we get some, but this is what we see all along the trail," Vienna Mayor Linda Colbert said.

"How disappointing is this for residents who have talked to you?" Taylor asked.

"Every day I get emails, get stopped at church, wherever I got in the community, that is the number one thing I hear about," Mayor Colbert said.

Vienna Mayor Linda Colbert was the latest official to speak out to 7News, saying Dominion Energy never mentioned its plan to cut down 33 miles of trees along the historic Washington & Old Dominion trail.

READ| Va. leaders not happy with Dominion Energy's plan to cut trees on historic 45-mile trail

It's already cut down trees in Falls Church and the heart of downtown Vienna.

"Have you gotten a list of how many trees have been cut down or what kind of trees have been cut down?" asked Taylor.

"No, nothing. I think our Delegate Holly Seibold has asked for that, but we haven't received anything," Colbert said.

In Arlington County along the 45-mile trail, the Northern Virginia Conservation Trust told 7 News it's against Dominion chopping down all the trees located on the energy company's right of way.

"We are losing trees at such a record rate throughout Northern Virginia, and here's another example of a hammer approach when a scapel is needed," said Alan Rowsome, the Executive Director of the Northern Virginia Conservation Trust.

READ| Dominion Energy to reconsider cutting down thousands of trees along the W & OD trail

For the past 20 years, NOVA Parks and Dominion have complied with a Memorandum of Understanding that established vegetation management guidelines along the trail.

It states it may be desirable to remove all tall-growing trees that constitute a hazard to Dominion's transmission lines; however, much discretion should be used, and removal of trees should take place over a time period to allow the planting of replacement trees.

Even greater discretion should be used in removing large, mature, tall-growing trees.

Pruning, as opposed to the removal of trees, is desirable.

Earlier this year, NOVA Parks was informed by Dominion that it would no longer honor the non-binding agreement.

"We would like Dominion to stop the cutting right now. To adopt a more select cutting that they have done for decades and to have a robust plan for habitat restoration," added Paul Gilbert, Executive Director of NOVA Parks.

NOVA Parks, Town of Vienna, Fairfax County, Loudoun County, and Arlington County have all passed resolutions or expressed their opposition to Dominion's plan to cut down all the trees along a 33-mile path of the trail.

Last week, Dominion told 7News it is pausing the cutting down of trees and will review sections of the trail in order to identify trees that need to be removed.

Dominion shared a letter dated March 26, 2025 that it sent to NOVA Parks detailing what it intends to do on the trail: