The National Park Service has begun a new round of tree-cutting at a historic golf course near the National Mall as the Trump administration moves forward with a plan to transform the East Potomac Golf Links into a championship-level course.

More than 500 trees "that do not contribute to the historic landscape will be removed" under the rehabilitation project, the National Park Service said in a court filing on Friday. The agency stressed that "no healthy trees that are contributing features of the historical golf course" — including historic cherry trees — would be taken down as part of the work.

According to the filing, a total of 169 trees will be removed starting Saturday, with another 90 slated for removal at a later date. The phased removals mean the transformation of the landscape will unfold in stages, with the second wave still unscheduled.

The tree removals come as President Donald Trump has pushed to turn the course into a world-class golf venue, part of his broader vision for Washington, D.C., where storied structures have been torn down, others remade or renamed, and the National Guard has been deployed for more than a year.

Some residents fear the planned changes — Trump has visited the course with a cabinet member, a well-known golf course architect, and blueprints — risk altering the character of a place that has served Washingtonians of all income levels for more than a century. Converting the park into an upscale golf course would mean costlier fees and a likely loss of public space. That mix of affordability and proximity to the National Mall is what residents say is most at risk.

"The National Park Service is finally implementing a 7-year-old plan to address tree overgrowth at East Potomac Golf Course," the Interior Department said in a statement on Saturday. The department oversees the park service and other agencies that manage federal lands.

The renovation will include selective tree and vegetation work to restore the course, the Interior Department said, adding that the work is intended to "help restore the course's historic character and reopen views toward landmarks, including the Washington Monument, National War College, Potomac River and Washington Channel." The park service "recognizes the importance of trees to the park and its visitors. This carefully planned work is part of our required stewardship of the park," the statement said.

The golf course will remain open to the public throughout the renovation effort, although individual holes may temporarily close while work is underway, the agency said.

The 106-year-old public course has been embroiled in a lawsuit since February. Plaintiffs including the DC Preservation League argue that the Trump administration's reconstruction would violate the congressional act that created the park in 1897. The group sought an emergency stop-work order this spring over concerns that work on the course was expected to begin immediately. That statute predates the course itself by more than two decades, a timeline central to the plaintiffs' argument that the 19th-century law still governs what can be done with the land. With another round of removals pending and the case ongoing, future court rulings and the pace of tree-cutting are thearest indicators of what comes next.

Trump, an avid golfer, has promoted the project on social media. "When completed, this Course will have the ability to host Major Golf Tournaments, including The U.S. Open, The Ryder Cup, The PGA Championship, and other top PGA Tour events," he wrote in late June.

It remains unclear when the course could host any major tournaments, as locations for such events are chosen several years in advance. Because those events lock in host venues years ahead of time, completing the renovation would not by itself secure a tournament; hosting decisions rest with the events' organizing bodies.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.