Twenty-plus years ago I hiked the Appalachian Trail. Back then, it was common practice to hitch a ride into town for resupply. One time when my partner and I we

Twenty-plus years ago I hiked the Appalachian Trail. Back then, it was common practice to hitch a ride into town for resupply. One time when my partner and I were hiking in Virginia, we got picked up by a state department of conservation employee. During the ride I asked him what he did and he said “I destroy beaver dams.” When I asked him how he did it he said “with dynamite.” I laughed—how ridiculous, right?—and he looked at me very seriously and said “it’s not funny; beaver dams are difficult to remove.” For years I thought that this was some dumb redneck thing until I met another former DCR employee back home who told me the same story.