The Olmsted Network has joined a coalition of advocacy, conservation, and historic preservation organizations in a legal challenge concerning the proposed changes of West Potomac Park in Washington, D.C. The case centers on ensuring that any transformation of this nationally significant landscape complies with the laws and preservation processes that govern public lands in the nation’s capital.
The coalition includes the National Parks Conservation Association, DC Preservation League, National Mall Coalition, Olmsted Network, the Committee of 100 on the Federal City, The Cultural Landscape Foundation, and D.C. resident Steve Longenecker. The coalition is represented in the matter by Democracy Forward Foundation.
West Potomac Park is far more than open space. As part of the National Mall and its surrounding park system, it helps form one of the most important civic landscapes in the United States—a place where Americans gather to commemorate, recreate, demonstrate, participate, and celebrate in public life.
The coalition’s legal action seeks to ensure that any proposed changes to West Potomac Park comply with the laws, public review requirements, and preservation processes established to protect nationally significant public landscapes. At stake is not only the future of a particular site but also the principle that civic landscapes belong to the public and should be stewarded through transparent and lawful decision-making.
“Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. believed that public landscapes are among our most important democratic institutions,” stated Sue Breitkopf, Olmsted Network President. “The National Mall and its surrounding parks comprise a nationally significant network of ceremonial and civic spaces that express our shared values and invite public participation in our democracy. West Potomac Park is an essential part of that landscape. For generations, it has provided an open and welcoming place for recreation, reflection, and community at the heart of the nation’s capital. We are joining this coalition because protecting places like West Potomac Park requires more than preserving land—it requires respecting the laws, public engagement, and democratic processes that guide decisions about our shared civic inheritance.”
This effort reflects principles that have guided the Olmsted legacy for generations. Frederick Law Olmsted and Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. understood that public landscapes are essential civic infrastructure—places that support public well-being, strengthen community, and provide a foundation for democratic life.
That vision remains especially relevant in D.C., wher landscapes like West Potomac Park form part of a larger network of public spaces that embody national ideals and collective memory. Stewarding these places requires both thoughtful care of the landscape itself and respect for the public processes that have long guided their protection.
The Olmsted Network is proud to stand with our fellow plaintiffs in defense of West Potomac Park and the enduring civic values it represents.
Read the full legal filing here and the press release from Democracy Forward here.
