One of the things about the actual ESA law is that the number 1 priority written in the Act is the protection and restoration of the habitats on which the species depend. We are doing a pretty **ss poor job of restoring, say, old growth forests, intact floodplains, intact estuaries, natural stream hydrography (see Colorado River for a really good example). So, it is no wonder that we fail at restoration. What we want, since we won't control population of humans, is "zoos" and "preserves" where we can go too see them without having to disrupt our lives.