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IDAHO — A legendary video of parachuting beavers has been found in Idaho. According to a story from Boise State Public Radio, the video was shot in 1950 and was recently recovered by a historian from the Idaho Fish and Game.
Apparently, the historian had spent years searching for the video before finding it mislabeled and in the wrong box. Why did this individual search so diligently for the film, entitled "Fur for the Future," when so few people knew it even existed? The answer is found at the 8-minute mark of the video when Fish and Game employees are shown loading beavers into an airplane and then send them parachuting into a remote wilderness area.
The surreal events have to be seen to be believed.
As reported by Boise State Public Radio, the parachuting beavers were the brainchild of Fish and Game employee Elmo Heter. In the late 1940s, there was a lot of population growth near Payette Lake and new homeowners often complained about the beavers in the area.
Heter felt that the Chamberlain Basin in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness Area was the perfect place to relocate the beavers. The only problem was that there were no roads into that remote and rugged part of Idaho. Getting the animals to the basin would require some creative thinking.
There were plenty of parachutes left over from World War II so Heter realized it could be effective to drop the beavers out of a plane. He designed a wooden carrying box that would open on impact, allowing the beavers to safely reach their final destination.
After testing some parachutes drops with dummy weights, he upgraded to a live beaver. The brave beaver survived several test drops and the plan got the green light from the Idaho Fish and Game.
According to the Boise State Public Radio article, 76 beavers were eventually parachuted into the bason. While one of the beavers died on impact, the other 75 settled in the area and established a thriving population.
Grant Olsen joined the KSL.com contributor team in 2012. He covers outdoor adventures, travel, product reviews and other interesting things. You can contact him at grantorrin@gmail.com.
