Three Oak Bluffs landowners on Crystal Lake and Brush Pond have been cited for clear-cutting trees and vegetation in violation of the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act and the town’s wetlands bylaw. The Oak Bluffs conservation commission has ordered the property owners to carry out restoration work in the coming months to repair the damage.

The most serious violation involves the clear-cutting of a large number of mature pine trees on Brush Pond both within the wetland buffer and even within the wetland itself on a lot owned by Patrick G. King of Oak Bluffs. Pictures of the property from a site visit depict a large pile of cordwood next to a cleared area overlooking the coastal pond. On Wednesday Oak Bluffs conservation agent Liz Durkee called the violation “very egregious.” In an e-mail to Mr. King from February Ms. Durkee outlined the seriousness of the offense.

“This is a major violation,” it reads. “An enormous amount of trees and vegetation were cut — without a permit — and in the 100-year flood zone and buffer zone to a wetland.”

There are no structures on the property but the buildable lot is currently on the market and is listed by Alisan Lohan-Conway Properties at $777,000. Mr. King claimed that the conservation commission had permitted him to conduct the clear-cutting after a 1997 site visit. In fact, Ms. Durkee said, the commission had approved limited cutting on a separate property that he owned across the street from the lot in question.

“He never got a permit to do anything on this property,” she said. “The vegetation that he cut was old and strong and protecting a whole peninsula that includes the hospital.”

The conservation commission has hired a tree expert to investigate the number of trees cut down on the property and their condition. The commission has also required Mr. King to hire a wetlands consultant to delineate the wetlands line and he has agreed to meet with the board at its meeting on March 15 to present a plot plan of the property and discuss its restoration.

While the violations are severe Ms. Durkee said that the board was working to avoid administering financial penalties.

“We don’t like to be nasty,” she said. “We have the ability to fine people for violations but we try to work with them if they cooperate with us.”

Just up the road two homeowners have clear cut vegetation on properties fronting Crystal Lake. Jill Katz of Los Angeles, Calif., and Ted and Katherine Meleney of Saunderstown, R.I. have been cited for very similar violations on their two properties abutting the former ice pond. Both violations include the clearcutting of vegetation down to the waterfront, including some mature pine and cedar trees. According to Ms. Durkee Mr. Meleney has hired an engineer to develop a plot plan for the property while Ms. Katz has given the conservation commission a $5,000 bond to hold until a restoration plan can be developed. No meeting date has been set for either homeowner.

“We felt good that they responded very quickly,” said Ms. Durkee. “They’ve been extremely cooperative.”

Although such violations are not altogether uncommon Ms. Durkee said that she was surprised to see the work on a body of water that has been the subject of intensive conservation work in recent years.

“The East Chop Association has been doing a lot of work over the years to improve the quality of the pond,” she said. Among other steps, the nonprofit has carried out the carefully permitted use of chemicals in the pond to eradicate phragmites and pond weed.

“A lot of effort and money has been going into improving the water quality of this pond so it’s really surprising that people who live on the pond would do that because most of the people in this neighborhood are well aware that that work is going on and that cutting would have a negative impact on the water quality,” Ms. Durkee said.

The violations were reported to the commission by neighbors. As with the Brush Pond property Ms. Durkee said the commission was working to avoid fining the property owners, though she did note that the cost to restore all three properties may be much more expensive than their owners anticipate.

In both of the Crystal Lake cases the homeowners claimed to be unaware of the need for permits for such work, a common defense that frustrates Ms. Durkee.

“Really I wish we could spend more time educating the community why it’s important not to clear-cut vegetation on a pond,” she said. “Enforcement’s a tough part of the job.”

While some property owners may scoff at the ecological effects of cutting down vegetation on their own property, Ms. Durkee says the effects can be widespread and serious.

“The cutting of vegetation in or near a wetland area has a negative impact on all the values that wetlands provide for a community and that includes flood control, storm damage protection, erosion control and in their role as a significant wildlife habitat,” she said. “Saltmarshes are incredible breeding grounds for all kinds of shellfish and finfish. Cutting vegetation on the buffer of the pond allows stormwater runoff and rain runoff to flow directly into the pond with all the junk it picks up along the way without having the ability to be filtered by the plants and the root systems of the plants.”

She added: “People used to think wetlands were wastelands but they are actually extremely valuable land.”