The beaver drop was a 1948 Idaho Department of Fish and Game program to relocate beavers from Northwestern Idaho to the Chamberlain Basin in Central Idaho. The program involved moving 76 beavers by airplane and parachuting them down to the ground. The program was started to address complaints about property damage from residents. Parachuting beavers proved to be more cost-effective and it also decreased beaver mortality rates more than alternative methods of relocation.
Background
After the end of World War II, many of Idaho's residents migrated from Idaho's cities to the state's rural areas in the southwest. As a result, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game received increased complaints about property damage from beavers cutting down trees and creating dams in the town.
Beavers were considered crucial to the health of Idaho's wetlands, as they helped to reduce erosion, improved water quality, and created habitats for birds and fish. Idaho's beaver population, however, had reached low levels after overhunting for the fur trade. In order to reintroduce beavers, the United States Department...
Stewart Russell
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