I have a number of my birding friends just how much better off we would be, conservation-wise, if we had managed swans, cranes (esp whoopers), and shorebirds such as curlew and plover with the intent to hunt them once they recovered. Like Wood Ducks. Most authorities thought woodies were on the fast lane to extinction at the turn of the 20th Century.

IF we had the intent to hunt the above mentioned birds, at a sustainable level, how much more habitat would there be for all resources? Instead, we have museum populations and a lot less habitat.

Early on in ESA at least some of the Inland Cutthroat were listed as Endangered which meant little could be done with them. Many were successfully argued down to Threatened and the resource agencies continued to have some fisheries while restoring and enhancing the subspecies. Heck, the Wyoming CuttSlam includes at least one subspecies thought to be extinct in the 70s; now you can catch them.