I found that article particullay interesting, especially the part about harvesting themwhen mature to make furniture.

I have heard a long while ago that the best way to preserve tropical hardwoods is to drive up their price by making furniture from them. If they are worthless, they are either burned or used for concrete forms by the Chinese.

Interesting is that people think that they are being "green" when they refuse to buy furniture made from them.

The alligators are making a comeback because it is financially profitable to use their skins, not despite it.

Careful...don't say the word "profit" too loud, or you might have your house burned down by PETA or ELF. What's interesting about this article and your post is the underlying piece of human nature that you reveal. That is, if it benefits us, we protect it. Seriously, would the dairy cow survive in the wild? It seems like there is a marketing strategy there. I don't necessarily buy into the global warming hype, but the idea of demonstrating profitability isn't a bad one. Make "green practices" profitable somehow, and people will jump on it. Funny how capitalism works.

Make protecting the environment profitable and it will get done.

The alligators are making a comeback because it is financially profitable to use their skins, not despite it.

Not at all. Once it became illegal to harvest them, they multiplied. Besides, aren't most allegator hides from farmed animals?

As to tropical hardwoods, they are typically slow growing and poachers aren't about to wait a century to grow a new one. It takes a good deal of willpower or law enforcement to leave a tree worth thousands in the wild.

Who are the people that this kind of argument works on?

You say that making the wood more valuable will prevent its harvest? What planet do you think you live on? Alligators are the perfect null argument for your position, having been driven to near-extinction by the high demand for their skin.

Regulation protects resources, not the market. Welcome to the reality based community.