You can unpin everything that is on that tree is you so desire using the Pin/Unpin button at the top right. Looks like a thumb tack. This will allow you to put only what is most important there and keep the jumping/scrolling to a minimum. Also there are options in the Option menu to keep things from being automatically pinned, like planets.
Pay no attention to the man behind the post - This exceedingly nonchalant response typifies the apathetic coma that has befallen the entire community regarding the single most problematic component hindering SoaSE gameplay since it's inception - bar none.
The Whack-A-Mole nature of the empire tree has been a source of frustration since vanilla, but countless lemmings have continued to downplay the severity of this glaring defect in what can only be described as a mass hallucination of denial, suggesting that it could be worked around and its interference mitigated. Lemmings I tell you!
However, in an effort to stop the madness, the last patch has finally addressed the issue, and significantly improved it's performance.
It is still not 100% stable, but thankfully it is at long last viable as a tactical interface. Praise be to the devs.
Here is some of the previous posts on ET threads.
