[aigel]

The majority of funding for restoration of wildlife habitat, especially waterfowl, has been from hunting licenses and taxes collected on sporting goods. So yes, your uncle Joe who can't wait to kill the most geese on Saturday will not strike you as a conservationist, but he paid the bills to get the flyways back to where they had been 100+ years ago. And by the way - market hunting has been what ruined the waterfowl populations, not recreational hunting.