When William Hamilton introduced Ailanthus altissima in 1784 to America in his Philadelphia garden as an ornamental tree, he couldn’t have imagined that over 200 years later this East Asian deciduous plant would be labeled an invasive species and be hated by many.

In the past few years, the state Bureau of Forestry’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources has been working to eradicate this so-called “Tree of Heaven” from Pine Creek Valley in western Lycoming County.   read more