In order to combat Idaho’s overpopulation of beavers in the 1940s and ’50s, the state’s Department of Fish and Game came up with one of the most unique relocation projects to this day.
A beaver airdrop, or beavers parachuting to a new location, if you will.
For quite some time, many believed the footage to be lost, but luckily it was recovered recently by fish and game historian Sharon Clark.
The footage consists of beavers, muskrats, and martin being packed into wood boxes and then being taken up in planes where they eventually parachuted down to their new homes in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness.
The Idaho Historical Society digitized the film and released it on the Internet for us to enjoy for generations, something for which I am extremely thankful.
I’m just throwing the idea out there, but a Netflix documentary on this crazy project would be welcomed.
A special shout out goes to Idaho’s Department of Fish and Game, who named the video “Fur for the Future,” something we could work with when naming the full-length documentary.
