FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA — Fairfax County has doubled the minimum number of forestry and natural-resources experts proposed for a new Environmental Commission ahead of Tuesday's public hearing on dissolving the county's Tree Commission.
Materials prepared for the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors' Aug. 25 meeting say the restructured Environmental Commission would include "at least two commissioners with expertise in forestry and natural resources." The documents used when supervisors authorized the hearing July 14 called for "at least one" such commissioner.
The change follows concerns that dissolving the 15-member Tree Commission could reduce the specialized expertise devoted to protecting Fairfax County's urban forest. Tree-related matters would also be required to appear in each annual work plan for the new Environmental Commission, according to the latest staff report.
The revised staffing language is the principal substantive difference between the July and August reports concerning the proposed repeal of Article 9 of Chapter 122 of the Fairfax County Code.
The underlying ordinance has not changed. Both packets contain the same draft, dated June 15, that would repeal the code provisions establishing the Tree Commission. The ordinance itself does not transfer the commission's specific powers or duties to another body.
Instead, the Aug. 25 staff report says the Tree Commission's advisory role involving trees and natural resources would be assumed by a restructured Environmental Commission. Supervisors are expected to take separate actions Tuesday on dissolving the Tree Commission and restructuring the Environmental Quality Advisory Council, known as EQAC, into the new commission.
RELATED: Could Fairfax County's Tree Commission Be Dissolved?
The latest report does not explain why the minimum number of forestry and natural-resources experts increased from one to two. During the July 14 board discussion, however, county staff said it was reviewing comments submitted by the Tree Commission and EQAC and making final changes to the proposed bylaws.
Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn asked at that meeting whether duties assigned to the Tree Commission under county law could be designated as responsibilities of the new Environmental Commission.
Bree Fuller, countywide coordinator in the County Executive's Office, said staff was compiling the two advisory bodies' comments, revising the bylaws and preparing responses.
"There was to be time for that," Fuller said when Alcorn asked whether supervisors would retain an opportunity to transfer Tree Commission duties to the new body.
Board Chairman Jeffrey McKay (D-At-Large) also emphasized that the July vote merely authorized Tuesday's hearing and did not dissolve the Tree Commission.
"This item is the authorization to advertise a public hearing, and so we've got a ways to go," McKay said.
The Tree Commission was created in 1973 and has 15 seats, including representatives from Fairfax County's nine magisterial districts and an at-large member. Other seats represent the Environmental Quality Advisory Council, Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District, Fairfax County Park Authority, Virginia Cooperative Extension and Virginia Department of Forestry.
Its duties include advising supervisors on protecting and expanding the urban forest, reviewing government actions that could affect trees, monitoring tree-related policies, recommending updates to the Tree Action Plan and conducting public outreach.
County staff concluded that some of those responsibilities overlap with EQAC's broader environmental work. Dissolving the Tree Commission is projected to save approximately $20,000 in meeting-facilitation costs and about 600 staff hours annually.
The Reston Citizens Association and Citizens For Great Falls have urged supervisors to retain the Tree Commission, arguing that its work would be diluted within a panel responsible for a wider range of environmental issues.
RELATED: OP-ED: Fairfax Board To Vote On Abolishing Two Longstanding Environmental Advisory Groups
The Reston Citizens Association called the projected savings small compared with the importance of independent advice on land use, stormwater, infrastructure and climate policy. Citizens For Great Falls questioned how the savings estimate was calculated and said county officials had not released a complete transition plan showing which Tree Commission responsibilities would continue.
Doug Britt, who helped secure Reston's acceptance into the Biophilic Cities Network, made a similar argument in an op-ed submitted to Patch. Britt, a former chairman of the Reston Association Environmental Advisory Committee, said replacing a commission centered on tree expertise with limited forestry representation on a broader panel would reduce the attention given to trees.
The new two-expert minimum addresses one element of that criticism, although the Aug. 25 repeal documents do not specify how the Tree Commission's remaining duties, reports and outreach activities would be divided among the Environmental Commission and county agencies.
County staff said the Urban and Community Forestry Division would continue managing the Tree Community of Practice. The Virginia Department of Forestry also confirmed that the restructured Environmental Commission would satisfy the advisory-body requirement for Fairfax County to retain its Tree City USA designation, according to the staff report.
The public hearing is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Tuesday. Board action is requested after the hearing.
The records provided do not show that the Fairfax County Planning Commission reviewed or voted on the Tree Commission dissolution proposal. They show that the Board of Supervisors authorized the hearing July 14 after receiving comments from the Tree Commission and EQAC.
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