The Trump administration repeatedly overruled internal objections from National Park Service officials as it pushed to lease a large swath of public parkland in Washington, D.C., to a private operator.
Internal records obtained through a public records request reveal that Park Service employees raised repeated legal, environmental and ethical alarms about a plan to lease nearly 40 acres of Rock Creek Park, including the Rock Creek Tennis Center, home of the long-running DC Open tournament, reported the Washington Post.
"The park vehemently disagrees with these lease boundaries," officials wrote on draft lease documents. "This lease proposal does not meet these legal requirements."
Officials warned the proposal violated federal rules protecting public access to parklands, threatened the habitat of an endangered species and exceeded the boundaries that even the expected lease winner had requested, but the documents suggest the process was shaped around the interests of a well-connected businessman before bidding even opened.
Internal emails show Park Service officials were coordinating with Mark Ein, the Washington businessman who owns the DC Open and has long sought upgrades to the aging tennis facility, before the government had even formally solicited bids.
One Interior official proposed lease boundaries that went well beyond what Ein himself was understood to be seeking, the Post reported, and park resources manager raised the discrepancy directly in an email, asking why officials were "being directed to include everything in Brightwood" when Ein had already indicated what he was seeking.
Environmental concerns centered on the Hays Spring amphipod, a federally protected crustacean found only in Rock Creek Park. Of the seven known pools where the species exists, three fall within the proposed lease boundary. Officials warned that redevelopment could undo more than $1 million already spent on protections for the species.
One senior official wrote that she could not see how the agency could determine the lease would not interfere with park protection or visitor enjoyment — and warned it could be vulnerable to legal challenge.
Despite those warnings, a National Capital Region director acknowledged that "leadership has decided to go with the larger footprint."
The Interior Department denied any wrongdoing, saying the lease "followed all laws and regulations," and Ein's spokeswoman declined to comment.
Months after the administration said it hoped to have a lease in place by March 1, no deal has been announced and federal officials have offered no public explanation for the delay.