ASK THE DNR: How the Minnesota Conservation Volunteer got its name

Q. How did the Minnesota Conservation Volunteer, the bimonthly magazine of the DNR, get its name?

A. The name Minnesota Conservation Volunteer stems from the magazine's original purpose. Established as the DNR's official publication in 1940, it aimed to help mobilize an army of "conservation volunteers" throughout the state. Readers were encouraged to take a pledge to "support by word and deed all aspects of conservation."

Early issues of the magazine featured a card that conservation volunteers could clip and carry in their wallets. Seventy-one years later, the magazine still encourages its 150,000 subscribers to volunteer for the cause of conservation. Today, readers' contributions pay for the entire cost of producing, printing and distributing the magazines.

You can find the Minnesota Conservation Volunteer at mndnr.gov/magazine.

-- Kathleen Weflen

Weflen is editor-in-chief of the Minnesota Conservation Volunteer.