Idaho Relocated Beavers by Parachuting Them From Planes

Chew on This

In a unique conservation initiative that may seem unconventional by today’s standards, the Idaho Fish and Game department, led by experienced wildlife expert Elmo Heter, once undertook a remarkable project to relocate beavers from Payette Lake to Chamberlain Basin. Faced with the challenge of a remote and roadless destination, the team repurposed surplus parachutes from World War II to airdrop the beavers, ensuring both their safety and the success of this wildlife relocation endeavor!

Eager Beavers

The year was 1948. It was three years past the end of World War II, and people were starting to migrate into the beautiful area of Payette Lake in McCall Idaho.

But, there was just one problem—the beaver population.

It didn’t take long for the residents of Payette Lake to figure out that living with busy beavers wasn’t going to be easy, so it was decided that the beavers would be relocated.

The Beaver Drop

Idaho Fish and Game were then tasked with figuring out where and how to move these brave beavers. Elmo Heter worked in the department at the time, and he had experience with the critters, making him the the resident beaver expert that the Government had been searching for.

Heter knew that Chamberlain Basin was the perfect spot for the beavers. But the aspects of the basin that made it such an ideal destination, namely its remoteness and dense vegetation, also made it complicated to get the beavers to their new home. There were no roads leading into the basin, so cars were out of the question.

They also considered packing up the animals in boxes and strapping them to donkeys, but  beavers and donkeys don’t exactly mix .

Which left them with the only logical solution: drop the beavers from planes.

Geronimo

Heter then came up with a plan where he could get the beavers out of the community, and move them into a place where they could be happy, all while getting rid of the excess parachutes that were left over after World War II.

He designed a box that would comfortably fit a beaver, and open upon impacting the ground. To test this device, he first used weights. After those tests proved to be successful,  he then found a male beaver, named Geronimo, and started using him as his parachuting test subject.

Geronimo would be dropped from the plane, retrieved by one of the handlers, and then put back in the box to be dropped all over again. This was done repeatedly until Heter was confident that his plan would work on a larger scale.

Thereafter, 76 more beavers followed him along. All but one of the skydivers survived the trip, and went on to work wonders for the natural habitat of the basin.

While the unconventional nature of Heter’s plan may raise eyebrows, its undeniable success underscores the resourcefulness and innovation employed in wildlife conservation during a pivotal era. Today, we can reflect on this historical episode and marvel at the ingenuity that once led to beavers literally falling from the sky over Idaho in the 1940s.