The Sandwich Conservation Commission has always taken a dim view of homeowners illegally hacking away at trees and brush in protected conservation areas. Sometimes property owners clear these wild areas to improve the view from their own homes and back yards. And sometimes homeowners cut back invasive plants and vines and believe they are performing a service. In the past yearâpossibly as a result of people spending more time at home due to coronavirus restrictionsâincidents of homeowners cutting into the resource areas seem to have increased. At almost every bimonthly meeting lately, the conservation commission hears about deforestation of protective buffer zones. Earlier this month, after hearing about illegal clearing behind three homes on Knott Avenue in the Town Neck section of town, the commission members decided they must crack down on this chopping.