Ogden, UT Invasive Plant Rules: Tree-of-Heaven Removal (2026)

Section 1900-5 of the Ogden City Administrative Policy Manual, the arboricultural regulations the mayor adopted under City Code section 6-2-5A, sorts tree species into three tiers for parking strips and street tree sites: nonacceptable planting stock, species that are acceptable but not recommended, and the approved street tree list. Tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima) sits in the nonacceptable tier alongside black locust, box elder, Russian olive, Siberian elm, silver maple, and all species of poplars, conifers, standard fruit trees, and willows, because these species are prone to disease, insects, or damage to sidewalks and curbs.

The urban forester, working with the Public Ways and Parks Division, applies this list when reviewing permit applications. City Code section 6-2-6A requires a written permit before anyone plants, prunes, removes, sprays, destroys, defaces, or injures any street tree or park tree in Ogden City; a tree planted contrary to the arboricultural regulations, including a barred species like tree of heaven, can be removed by the city. Businesses that trim, treat, or remove street or park trees pay a fifteen dollar permit fee per job, or a seventy five dollar annual fee, under City Code section 6-2-5B. Permits expire thirty days after issuance under section 6-2-6C, and exceeding what a permit authorizes triggers the penalties in section 6-2-12.