Tree Commission gets the axe
The Office of the County Executive is calling for a number of boards and commissions to be dissolved, including the Fairfax County Tree Commission and the Environmental Quality Advisory Council (EQAC).
Those entities would be replaced by a new Environmental Commission. Some of the Tree Commission’s responsibilities might be shifted to the Urban Forest Management Division in the Department of Public Works and Environmental Services.
The Tree Commission is an advisory body that provides advice, support, and community education regarding urban forest conservation and preservation. EQAC advises the Board of Supervisors on air and water quality, land use, energy, and climate.
Merging the two advisory bodies is expected to save the county staff time and planning costs. It’s another example of county government streamlining land use matters that results in reduced opportunities for citizen input.
The Board of Supervisors will hold a hearing on the proposal on Aug. 25, although it appears to be moving forward. EQAC is holding a farewell celebration on Aug. 12. Kevin Holland, the Mason District representative on the Tree Commission, said, “The decision has already been made.”
Related story: Volunteers rescue trees choked by vines
Both Holland and Barbara Ryan, the chair of the Tree Commission, declined to discuss the merger. Ryan noted her concerns are outlined in a June 30 letter to Brianne Fuller, countywide coordinator in the county executive’s office.
Moving the functions of the Tree Commission into the new Environmental Commission “is likely to significantly reduce the attention given to trees,” Ryan wrote. The focus of the Environmental Commission, as outlined in its draft bylaws, “will leave trees as one of many environmental topics it must consider and address.”
Members of the Tree Commission have expertise in tree preservation and deep knowledge of the county’s Tree Conservation Ordinance. That would no longer be the case with the new Environmental Commission, Ryan said, as the bylaws would reserve just one seat for a member with forestry and natural resources experience or expertise.
“Severing the connection between the Tree Commission and the Ordinance will reduce the attention given to how the county implements the Ordinance,” Ryan says. “The timing of this is particularly unfortunate given citizen angst about tree loss resulting from residential infill development across the county, how the Ordinance is being implemented, and overall confusion about the county’s tree preservation rules.”
The draft bylaws don’t include many of the provisions in the Tree Commission’s charter, Ryan said, such as its goal to advise the Board of Supervisors on actions to protect and expand the urban forest, and they don’t address the outreach activities carried out by the Tree Commission.
“If the BoS decides to proceed with dissolving the TC,” Ryan wrote, “we recommend that the EC bylaws contain an improved BoS advisory function that ensures that our urban forest and natural resources receive the priority they need and merit.”
It’s too bad we can’t just axe our County Executive. He believes Fairfax County was nothing before he came here. He’s so busy patting himself on the back for the great job he does making the developers lives so much better he could hurt himself. It must be very difficult for him to live on this earth with the rest of us who are just noise to get out of the way. Where is Tony Griffin when you need him? Or anyone with real integrity instead of self-aggrandizing? And how does this current BOS not see this?
If the Board believes change is needed, there is a better path:
– First, pause this proposal and undertake an open, transparent review with Tree Commission and EQAC members, civic groups, and the broader public.
– Second, if you decide to create an Environmental Commission, do it in addition to, not in place of, focused advisory bodies that have served you well for decades.
– Third, strengthen—don’t weaken—the links between advisory bodies and your ordinances, so that you receive clear, specialized advice on implementation where the public is most concerned.
In short, this decision is about more than reorganization. It is about whether Fairfax County chooses to honor and build on 50 years of environmental stewardship, or to roll it into something vaguer and hope for the best.
Great headline 😂 👏👏👏
In addition to citizen concerns about infill-caused tree loss, citizens using the Braddock Rd corridor will miss the acres of trees that will be cleared when VDOT and FCDOT complete their almost $200 million road project to replace the trees with 10 foot-wide shared use paths (plus 10+ feet for a grass buffer) along both sides of this road. Here’s what the trees look like now: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Tfq91XkgSqEsEABq6
Here’s the VDOT project website: https://www.vdot.virginia.gov/projects/northern-virginia-district/braddock-road-multimodal-improvements-in-fairfax-county/
Who is looking at the tradeoffs between the benefits the trees provide versus the benefits and costs of the shared use paths on this 3 mile stretch of Braddock Rd? If you are concerned about the loss of trees along with the tree commission, send your comments to Chairman McKay and your supervisor, and attend or send comments for the Aug 25 Board meeting: https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/boardofsupervisors/aug-25-2026-meeting