Beaver drop

[1] 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.

[2][3] 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.

[1][6] However, transporting beavers on land as done since the 1930s was "arduous, prolonged, expensive, and resulted in high mortality."

[8] Conservation officers consulted with the Idaho State Fur Supervisor and carefully selected sites to receive beavers.

[1] In 1949, the operation was deemed successful after officials observed the beavers had made homes in the new areas.

[11] In 2015, fish and game historian Sharon Clark discovered the film of the beaver drops, and the Idaho State Historical Society uploaded the video to YouTube.

[12] Time magazine claimed that the uploaded video made beavers, "the Internet's latest favorite animal".

[14] In 2023, the East Idaho News said, "The endeavor became an Idaho icon, with locally made clothing bearing a parachuting beaver logo, a children’s book detailing the beavers’ journey and even a Boise brewery adopting the image".