Redskins Owner Tried to Buy NPS OK to Down Trees

You gotta admire the moxie of Daniel Snyder, owner of the NFL's Washington Redskins. Seems Snyder didn't like the fact that trees on an easement he owned between his $10 million estate and the C&O Canal National Historic Park blocked his view of the Potomac River. But he couldn't just whack them down. While the easement was attached to Snyder's estate, it contained a provision that protected trees with trunks 6 inches in diameter and larger.
Well, according to the Washington Post, roughly four years ago Snyder offered the National Park Service $25,000 for permission to cut down some trees. At the time the agency turned him down. But last fall, when Snyder began to clear underbrush from the easement, C&O Canal officials negotiated a deal that allowed him to clear some trees, including 130 mature ones, in return for planting native saplings and donating some land to the park service.
Some groups have filed objections to how the matter was handled and it's now under review. Read about it at the Washington Post.