According to some, the Department of Environmental Conservation's official magazine should change its name from"The Conservationist" to "The Environmentalist." Why? Because a growing number of readers say there's little in the form of conservation themes in the issues these days, but rather almost all environmental and preservation - or as some call it, "green" themes. And they say they miss the once well-balanced format the publication had for decades before the change crept in

When the then New York State Conservation Department, the DEC's predecessor, introduced it in 1946, the magazine primarily addressed such then popular themes as hunting, fishing, trapping, forestry and conservation-related subjects. But once DEC was born in 1970, the themes gradually drifted away from those and more toward non-consumptive resource activities and preservation issues. Today, about 90 percent of the magazine is devoted to preservation and environmental themes and issues.

The drift away from the more once traditional themes became quite clear during Tom Jorling's commissionership (1987-94) when the magazine was published with the sub-title, "New York's Environmental Magazine." That sub-title was removed with the appointment of the next DEC commissioner, Mike Zagata, reportedly because subscriptions had declined, and Zagata faulted the sub-title and overabundance of green themes for the drop. He was apparently correct in that assumption, because subscriptions rose afterwards.