Beginning around 9 a.m. on Thursday, April 11, Caltrans crews closed Highway 243 in front of Mountaintop liquor to take down a five story tall Goldspotted oak borer infested tree. After removing the first tree, crews moved on to a second infected tree near the Chevron station. Caltrans reopened Highway 243 at at 12:42 p.m. according to Caltrans Highway Maintenance Supervisor Jody Mueller. Removal of the second tree did not necessitate keeping 243 closed.
These two trees were the second and third in Idyllwild to be confirmed as GSOB infected. The operation wrapped around 2 p.m. The diseased trees were taken to the grinding station.
