Homes & Land A Town Crier publication
Improvement 2013
A CAL FIRE employee cuts down an oak tree infected by the Goldspotted oak borer.
PHOTO BY MARSHALL SMITH
Idyllwild oaks under attack Goldspotted oak borer established on the Hill By Marshall Smith Assistant Editor The Goldspotted oak borer, the non-native beetle that has killed more than 80,000 oaks in San Diego County, has been positively identified in Idyllwild. Currently, entomologists know of no native California predator or insecticidal defense against the tree killer.
A DNA analysis, conducted by the Invasive Species Lab at University of California, Riverside, confirmed the Idyllwild beetle has the same genetic characteristics as the GSOB invaders in San Diego County. Transportation in firewood from San Diego to Idyllwild is the likely culprit, according to forestry officials. Until this identification, which CAL FIRE Battalion Chief Julie Hutchinson confirmed in November 2012, officials thought the beetle habitat had been confined to San Diego County, with the northernmost reach of this dangerous and highly invasive pest found just north of Julian.
In her press release, Hutchinson wrote, “This new detection of GSOB represents the first large scale movement of the beetle from its known area of infestation in San Diego County, 40 miles to the south. It is believed to have made the jump from San Diego to Idyllwild through the movement of infested firewood.” History The GSOB was introduced to San Diego County in the late 1990s or early 2000s. It was likely brought into the state on oak firewood collected and transported See Oaks, page 7