Idaho had a serious beaver problem in 1948. There were too many in lowland areas, where they were becoming a nuisance, but a remote high-mountain area had none.

So a bold, simple solution was devised: Capture beavers in areas where they weren’t wanted, then load them into planes and parachute them into the wilderness where they were needed.

A Beaver Named Geronimo

The first test subject was a male beaver named Geronimo by Idaho Fish and Game personnel assigned to the project.

He was the beaver guinea pig in test runs to determine the ideal drop altitude and fine tune the wooden crates in which the beavers would drift to earth.

Then Geronimo and three females became the first beavers parachuted into what was then called the Idaho Primitive Area and is now known as the Frank Church Rive

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