Idaho’s wildlife managers faced a challenge in the mid-20th century as human populations expanded into undeveloped areas. Recognizing the beaver’s ecological importance, the state needed a solution to manage the growing number of animals clashing with residential and agricultural development. This led to one of the most unusual and inventive conservation efforts in American history, requiring an aerial delivery method. The goal was to humanely move these “nuisance” beavers from populated areas to an isolated wilderness where their industrious habits could benefit the landscape.
The Human-Beaver Conflict
As people moved into rural areas of western Idaho following World War II, the resident beaver population quickly became a problem. Beavers began to interfere directly with human infrastructure, as their dams caused flooding that damaged irrigation ditches, roads, and timber resources. Idaho Fish and Game officials understood the beaver’s value as a natural engineer, but the animals needed to be removed from conflict areas to prevent their extermination. Traditional overland relocation methods, involving trucks and mules for mountainous terrain, were incredibly taxing on the animals and personnel. The lengthy journeys often caused high stress and mortality rates, requiring a more efficient, less stressful solution to move the beavers quickly over the roadless wilderness areas.
Selecting the Remote Wilderness Destination
The remote Chamberlain Basin, deep within the Sawtooth Mountain Range of central Idaho, was identified as the perfect sanctuary. Now part of the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness, the area was completely inaccessible by road, ensuring minimal human contact. The destination offered an abundant supply of water and vegetation, creating an ideal environment for the beavers to thrive. Beyond moving the animals away from people, the department had a specific environmental goal: the high-altitude meadows had suffered from past overgrazing and fire damage. Beaver dams were recognized as a natural way to restore these habitats, raising the water table and stabilizing stream flows, thereby improving the habitat for game species, fish, and waterfowl.
The Aerial Relocation Technique
The challenge of reaching the roadless basin led Idaho Fish and Game employee Elmo W. Heter to develop an unprecedented solution. Heter designed a specialized, ventilated wooden box, constructed from two hinged sections, that could be dropped from an airplane and hold two beavers each. The plan utilized surplus parachutes left over from World War II, which were attached to the wooden boxes. A key innovation was the escape mechanism: heavy elastic bands or springs were fastened to the bottom of the box, causing the crate to automatically spring open upon impacting the ground, freeing the beavers without human assistance. Before the main operation began in 1948, Heter conducted extensive tests, first with weighted dummies and then with a live beaver test subject named Geronimo, until the design was perfected.
Ecological Success and Lasting Legacy
The aerial relocation was conducted over a few days in August 1948, with a total of 76 beavers parachuted into the remote Chamberlain Basin meadows. The operation proved remarkably successful, with only one casualty reported, demonstrating the safety and efficiency of Heter’s unique design. Once on the ground, the relocated beavers quickly established new colonies and constructed dams in the pristine wilderness. The project successfully dispersed the animals into an area where their dam-building activities were beneficial to the ecosystem. Today, the descendants of these airborne beavers continue to reside in the Frank Church Wilderness, serving as a famous example of innovative wildlife management that resolved human-wildlife conflicts and restored degraded ecosystems.