Shawme Pond Phragmites Removal Will Resume
Apr 9, 2021
The Sandwich Enterprise
Wetlands Scientist Norman W. Hayes, along with machete-bearing volunteers, will again battle the phragmites overtaking Shawme Pond.
The Sandwich Conservation Commission on Wednesday night, April 7, considered—and approved—Mr. Hayes’s application to continue efforts begun in 2019 to remove the invasive plants by hand and without the use of herbicides.
“It’s a worthwhile program that should be allowed to continue,” said ConCom chairman Scott Boutilier.
Mr. Hayes and his small army of volunteers have cleared several areas around Upper Shawme Pond of the reeds that have been proliferating and choking the life from the scenic waterway behind town hall.
The troops last year cleared the bottom of the fish ladder and cleared the way for an active herring spawning season.
The removal program consists of four phases, two of which have been completed and have resulted in a huge reduction of phragmites in the target areas, Mr. Hayes has reported.
Mr. Hayes and his group of volunteers are expected to again fan out around the pond this spring and summer, remove the heads of the towering reeds and carry them off site in plastic bags.
Mr. Hayes originally came before the conservation commission in 2018 proposing that the phragmites be sprayed with glyphosate, an increasingly controversial herbicide commonly known by its trade name of Roundup, a Monsanto product.
That option is no longer possible because Sandwich no longer uses the herbicide on town property. Mr. Hayes then proposed removing the plants by hand.
The tall, tasseled Phragmites australis—also known as the common reed—grows all along the Eastern Seaboard and is recognized as an invasive plant by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
Phragmites is “an aggressive wetlands grass that outcompetes native plants and disrupts native animals,” according to the fish and wildlife website.
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