I see them. I'm not an expert, but those don't look like "harvestable" trees. Meaning trees that would be in demand by the timber buyer. I did to see any that were over 24" at 6' up. That's about where my guys had their limit.
The dozer took them out, roots and all fairly easily. If I had to do it over again, I'd find a good place for a burn pile, that's very close, and take them there and burn them.
I only had to clear a little over an acre, as the trees come pretty close to the water' sedge. I am not sure if a 2.6 acre pond would require additional equipment. My dozer guys pulled the sheeps foot roller with a big John Deere tractor, it got around just fine. They also had a track hoe to help cut the core for the dam. Your dam might be big enough that they can just use the dozer.
Have you had the guy from the USDA office (pond expert) come out? He's pretty good at calculating what the dam height will be, and then calculating the drainage area. He can also get a soils guy to come out also.
I had a good sized back hoe come in first and dig test holes at the expected base of the dam, and up both sides, along with a few random holes. Those will help the USDA guy.
Good luck, please keep up posted.

9 yr old pond, 1 ac, 15' deep.
RES, YP, GS, FHM (no longer), HBG (going away), SMB, and HSB (only one seen in 5 yrs) Restocked HSB (2020) Have seen one of these.
I think that's about all I should put in my little pond.
Otter attack in 2023