By Tim Craig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, March 6, 2005; Page A01
The National Park Service gave Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder
permission to remove more than 130 mature trees from a hillside behind his
Potomac estate in exchange for a possible share of the enhanced value he'll
receive from his new river views, government documents show.
The agreement, the first of its kind negotiated by the Park Service in the
Washington region, was completed over the objections of Montgomery County
officials, who are investigating whether Snyder broke local forest
conservation laws by cutting more than 130 mature trees on a slope beside
the C&O Canal and the Potomac River.
Because it could take years for new trees to replenish the more than 30,000
square feet of deforested land, the agreement calls for an appraiser to
inspect Snyder's $10 million estate and determine its value with the new
view. At the same time, the Park Service will calculate the value of
additional easement protections it received from Snyder along with the
approximately 1,300 native saplings and small trees that he planted.
If the value of the enhanced view exceeds the value of what the Park Service
gained in the deal, Snyder will donate the difference to the federal
government, the documents show.
Lenn Harley, a real estate broker who was not involved in Snyder's purchase
of the estate but is familiar with the Potomac area, estimated that a
relatively unobstructed view of the river could add $500,000 to $1 million
to the home's value.
The Park Service, which has a reputation for rigorous enforcement of laws
that protect the woods along riverbanks, did not disclose the monetary
arrangement when asked about the tree removal last December.
After a series of conflicting explanations -- including that Snyder cut the
trees "by mistake" -- officials said he was allowed to cut down the trees
because his property has been invaded by nonnative species, such as
ailanthus and paulownia, that the Park Service has been trying to keep out
of its forests.
When asked again this month, Kevin D. Brandt, superintendent of the C&O
Canal National Historic Park, defended the agreement because it allowed the
government to include a provision that bars Snyder, or any future owner of
the estate, from cutting down trees closest to the canal.
"We gained the long-term enhancement of the park," said Brandt, who
negotiated the deal with Snyder. "But most people don't enter into
agreements where they lose, and I am sure that is the case with Mr. Snyder.
. . . He gains some enhanced views from his property."
Park Service officials also said that other landowners along the Potomac
might be able to strike the same deal. Joseph M. Lawler, regional director
of the National Capital Region, said the government is willing to consider
similar arrangements with property owners on a case-by-case basis.
"Our actions have not been hastily taken," he wrote in a January letter to
Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.). "We believe it is in the best interests of
the park to establish true protection of the vegetation and at the same time
restore the health of the forest."
Van Hollen said he plans to look into the agreement.
"This really raises a lot of questions," he said. "We want to know if they
have a uniform coherent policy or whether they are just making it up as they
go."
Snyder's agreement with the government involves an 8.3-acre easement
purchased by the Park Service in 1974 to serve as a wooded buffer between
the estate and the park. It was one of about 190 such easements the
government acquired in the 1970s to protect the canal. Snyder did not own
the estate at the time. He purchased it from Queen Noor, widow of Jordan's
King Hussein, in 2001 for $10 million.
Environmental groups are divided over the merits of the unusual deal.
The Potomac Conservancy and the C&O Canal Association said they concur with
the Park Service that it will improve the land in the long term.
"The easement he currently has on his property is so old and outdated that
it doesn't provide any meaningful protection," said Matthew Logan, Potomac
Conservancy president. "By negotiating with Snyder, they were able to get
this site not only restored, but also a tighter, more restrictive easement.
So while there is some short-term visual damage, the long-term benefits in
our thinking outweighs that."
Others say that the government has established a dangerous precedent by
allowing Snyder to, in essence, buy himself a better view of the river.
"I know the Park Service is having a struggle, but I didn't realize this is
a method they would ever employ to help add to their revenues," said Neil
Fitzpatrick, executive director of Audubon Naturalist Society.
"Are they selling views, I think that is the question," said Ginny Barnes,
environmental chairman of the West Montgomery County Citizens Association.
"By letting one person negotiate some bizarre arrangement, does that then
become the model for everybody else? I certainly hope not."
Michael Sitrick, a spokesman for Snyder, said he has no interest in a better
view. In an e-mailed statement, Sitrick said Snyder wanted to help the Park
Service get rid of nonnative or invasive plants and trees
"It was part of a reforestation project requested by the National Park
Service," Sitrick said.
Meanwhile, Montgomery County officials are investigating whether Snyder
violated local conservation laws by removing the trees without the approval
of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission.
According to documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, the
Park Service and the county told Snyder as far back as 2001 that such
approval was needed. County officials said he went ahead with the cutting
after receiving only federal clearance.
County officials said Snyder was unlikely to have received permission. The
county's forest conservation law requires a permit before a landowner can
remove more than 5,000 square feet of trees.
Callum Murray, a county planner, wrote to Snyder in 2002: "In this location,
clearing would not be permitted as part of a forest conservation management
plan if it would remove any vegetation currently providing erosion
protection for the steep slopes along the river or would negatively affect
the scenic vistas from the river."
Snyder was fined $1,000 by the commission in December and is subject to
additional penalties pending an investigation. He has hired former Prince
George's county executive Wayne K. Curry to represent him.
"Anytime there is a violation of the forest conservation law, we consider it
a serious issue," said Charles R. Loehr, director of the Montgomery County
Department of Park and Planning.
Sitrick said that Snyder thought the Park Service would contact the county.
Brandt, however, said he "specifically articulated" to Snyder that he needed
to secure county approval.
Another source of contention is Brandt's decision to allow Snyder to remove
20 diseased native species of trees.
According to documents, the former park superintendent, Douglas D. Faris,
told Snyder's representatives in 2001 that the easement forbade the removal
of "diseased, dead or injured trees" in "nonhazardous situations."
"These trees provide critical wildlife habitat," wrote Faris, who is now
deceased.
Brandt acknowledged that it is unusual for the Park Service to allow the
removal of dead or dying native trees in a protected area. But he said he
had to give up some things as part of the negotiations with Snyder.
Under the terms of the original easements along the canal, property owners
were required to preserve mature trees but had the right to remove or trim
trees with trunks six inches or smaller.
Still, the Park Service said it prefers that the smaller trees be left
intact to provide wildlife habitat and maintain a buffer between homes and
the canal, according to correspondence between the government and Snyder's
representatives.
Last June, however, Snyder cleared most of the smaller trees from the
property, which is about an eighth of a mile north of Swains Lock, park
officials said.
When Snyder later asked for a special exemption to cut the larger trees,
Brandt said he decided to negotiate a solution that would represent "an
equal exchange of interests."
In the past, the Park Service has taken a much dimmer view of those
interested in cutting down trees.
Timbering on the Virginia side of the river by then-Sen. Charles S. Robb (D)
prompted a Park Service investigation that ended only when federal officials
discovered they lacked jurisdiction.
In 1992, waterbed manufacturer Isaac Fogel spent 15 days in a halfway house
for unauthorized cutting. Three years earlier, James Grafton Gore Sr., a
brother of former Republican activist Louise Gore, paid a six-figure fine
and swore on the courthouse steps: "I'll never touch another tree so long as
I live. Trust me."