# Missouri Conservationist

The Missouri Conservationist is a monthly periodical published by the Missouri Department of Conservation. It was first published in 1938 by the department's predecessor, the Missouri Conservation Commission. The magazine focuses on educating the general public on issues pertaining to the conservation and management of Missouri’s natural resources.
The magazine is free to all residents of the State of Missouri. The cost of its production and postage is supported by a portion of the statewide conservation sales tax. Non-residents can subscribe for a fee. All issues since July 1995 are published online by the Missouri Department of Conservation. Angie Daly Morfeld is the editor as of July 2017. The magazine has an ISSN number of 0026-6515.

## History
### 1938-1943 as a quarterly pamphlet

In July 1938 its first issue was published by the Missouri conservation commission. It had 8 pages a section of the commissioner's. In 1941 they had a short series called conservation briefs. In January 1942 issue it had a ding darling cartoon on the cover and the spring and summer 1942 issue only had 4 pages. In Autumn 1942 was the last pamphlet issue before becoming monthly in 1943

### 1943-1949 early monthly years

In April 1943 the Conservationist went from quarterly to monthly they added a content page and had a new feature called notes from the field. This feature was about conservation agents at work. In 1944 a bimonthly feature called letters from readers which showed readers what they think about the magazine and its features. From 1943-1946 they had a feature that showed the conservation commission who served during WW2 years. In August 1946 they moved the editorial to the inside front cover with the contents. In June 1948 the cover honored a famous conservationist Aldo Leopold who died in spring of that year. In August 1948 they changed the format in the letters and in December 1948 the cover had their former Commissioner E Sydney Stephens.

### 1950-1959

In November 1950 the Conservationist changed there letters then in August 1951 they changed the inside front cover removed the contents feature and changed the letters again then in September 1951 they added a cartoon called Consy Coon and in August 1953 they changed the letters in the Conservationist. In January 1955 the Conservationist went from a 2 column page to a 3 column page and in January 1956 Consy's Scrapbook appeared on the back cover of the Conservationist. In March 1956 notes from the field last appeared and in June 1956 the Missouri's outdoor almanac appears on the Conservationist. It had quotes on things it replaced the old notes from the field. In July 1957 the cover format changed. In July 1958 Missouri's Wildlife trail appears on the Conservationist.

### 1960-1969

In July 1962 the 25th anniversary issue of the Conservationist. In August 1964 the inside front cover changed its format added the contents feature back since its removal in August 1951. In May 1967 the contents feature changed its format. In May 1968 a little booklet a prairie is forever was in the Conservationist. In July 1968 the Conservationist turned 30 years old. In January 1969 a feature that only lasted for a year was field notes and in may 1969 the cover changed its format.

### 1970-1979

In June 1970 a special issue called Missouri conservation program report or MCP Report for short appeared on the Conservationist. In August 1971 the Conservationist expands its pages from 20 to 24 pages plus 6 pages with full color. In September 1971 a special issue called design for Conservation appears on the Conservationist. In January 1972 the Conservationist went from three columns to two columns. In July 1973 the Conservationist turned 35. In December 1973 the first Conservationist index appeared

## List of editors

* Townsend Godsey (1938–1941)
* Harold W Clover (1941–1943)
* Charles H Callison (1943–1947)
* Dan Saults (1947–1957)
* Jim Keefe (1957–1985)
* Mac Johnson (1985–1989)
* Kathy Love (1989–1997)
* Tom Cwynar (1997–2005)
* Ara Clark (2005–2014)
* Nichole LeClair (2014–2015)
* Angie Daly Morfeld (2015–present)

## Circulation history

* Amelia Ferguson (1946-1949)
* Barbara E Bales (1949-1953)
* Judy Jones (1953-1954)
* Aleda Renken (1954-1968)
* Sharon Mortenson (1968-1969)
* Janet Kauffman (1969-1971)
* Nova Woodall (1971-1972)
* May Shikles (1972-1992)
* Bertha Bainer (1993-2002)
* Laura Scheuler (2002–present)

## Photography History

* Rex Gary Schmidt (1943-1949)
* Don Wooldridge (1949-1978)
* Bill Gamble (1949-1950)
* Russ Reagan (1978-1984)
* Mark Sullivan (1978-1990)
* Jim Rathert (1984-2006)
* Paul Childress (1990-1996)
* Cliff White (1996-2005)
* Noppadol Paothong (2006–Present)
* David Stonner (2007–present)