Sorry, Monty, but that's simply not true and is a re-write of history. It took commercial business interests, academics, biologists, local and state lawmakers, the federal government, and a few concerned hunter/sportsmen to restore the alligator to it's habitat and to sustainable numbers. Unfortunately, the majority of hunters had to be dragged along by the process.
In Louisiana, alligator numbers dropped about 90% from the late 1940's to the late 1950's. Laws developed slowly: you can only take a 4' gator (no increase in population), you can only take a 5' gator (no increase in population), there is a total ban ( no increase in population--but the price of skins goes up and hunters paid the small fine rather than stop hunting). It took larger fines and jail time to finally get the numbers moving in the right direction.
By 1960, alligator populations were at a record low and lawmakers weren't being lobbied by hunters but by commercial interests because of the industrial demand and value of alligator skins. And of course, in 1967, the alligator was put on the list of rare and endangered native wildlife.
By the way, I'm certainly not blaming all hunters; it must be in the DNA of our tribe to consciously destroy things that help sustain us, including a creature whose ancestors go back 200 million years. Daniel Boone supposedly took 99 bears one season; could he have got by on 98? Probably.