Hundreds of Trees Fell at a D.C. Golf Course. A Legal Fight Escalated.

Locals and preservationists have long opposed Trump's plan to redevelop a municipal golf course in Washington, D.C. NPR reports the legal fight escalated after the government cleared hundreds of trees on short notice. Trees are an awkward thing to litigate, because a ruling cannot undo the cutting. A redevelopment plan can be paused, argued over and redrawn; hundreds of trees removed in a few days can only be regretted. That asymmetry — decisions that take years to contest and hours to execute — is part of what is at stake in fights over public land.