Stonington — A heavy piece of machinery called the Marsh Master began cutting down huge swaths of phragmites infesting the pond in front of the Stonington Community Center Tuesday morning.

The removal of the eight- to ten-foot high reeds is the first step in the community center’s plan to restore the pond to its natural state so wildlife can return and it can be used for skating and outdoor science programs.

The phragmites had grown so thick that many people who passed by the community center on Cutler Street were unaware there was a large pond just a few yards away.

But the phragmites, an invasive species that chokes out all other plant life and makes an area impenetrable for animals, was no match this morning for the rugged Marsh Master, a tank-like amphibious vehicle that quickly cut and crushed the phragmites. It also thrilled students in the community center’s preschool program who came outside to watch.

The community center, more commonly known as the COMO, is working with the Stonington Village Improvement Association to restore the pond, according to the announcement of the project on the COMO website.

“We are incredibly excited and very grateful for the SVIA’s support of this project,” COMO Executive Director Beth Stewart said Tuesday.

The COMO’s explantion of the project states that “An ecosystem dominated by phragmites prevents small fish, frogs, insects, birds etc. from thriving, and allows the mosquito population to grow unchecked, due to a lack of predators. The plants grow vigorously in the spring through the summer and then die off in winter leaving brown stalks up to 18 feet tall which eventually compost. This cycle creates compost in the pond and if we do nothing, the pond will eventually disappear.”

The COMO says the project will allow the regeneration of native plants, which would bring back birds, small fish, amphibians, and mammals that will eat mosquito larvae and reduce the mosquito population.

“Controlling the phragmites will stop the pond from disappearing and will allow everyone passing by to actually see and appreciate the pond,” the statement says.

The COMO is also working with the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to develop a three- to five-year plan of applying herbicide and mowing the property to keep the pond free of phragmites.

The COMO statement says that the herbicide Imazapyr, which has low toxicity for humans, birds, mammals and fish, would be sprayed on a non-windy day from equipment that allows the spray to fall down on the plant.

In 1996 the Stonington Garden Club and the then-Department of Environmental Protection spent $5,000 to clear the phragmites and spray herbicide but the reeds eventually grew back. Stewart said the current project is a multi-year effort that is designed to permanently eradicate the phragmites.

Stewart said she is also  seeking a grant to install a rolling dock on the pond to give people greater opportunity to explore the pond. She said the ice skating will also mesh well with the sledding on the hill next to the viadiuct into the COMO fields.      

j.wojtas@theday.com