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Patrick Durkin: Rebounding beavers gnaw, build Wisconsin’s wetlands

Beavers built this lodge from poplar trees and tag alders they cut from the pond’s surrounding forest and creek bottoms. (Photo by Patrick Durkin)

The first Wisconsin game warden killed by gunfire didn’t die protecting deer, bears, wolves, walleyes or waterfowl.
No, Einar P. Johnson, 33, died in May 1929 after confronting two Minnesotans who were bootlegging beaver pelts near Ladysmith. Wisconsin closed its beaver season that year to protect the depleted species after pelt prices hit $45 ($792 today, when adjusted for inflation), causing widespread overharvests. At that price in that era, one prime beaver pelt was worth more than many families’ monthly incomes.

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