Teddy Roosevelt was a big conservationist. He would've happily knocked some heads over the idea he was effeminate for it.

I take part in a lot of outdoorsy activities, there's kind of a split. Lots of conservation-minded folks like myself, and lots of assholes who don't seem to realize or care that they won't be able to go hunting, fishing, etc. if they develop over all the woodlands, poison the waterways, etc. and just want an excuse to shoot something or justify their much-larger-than-needed, lifted, coal-rolling truck.

Also a fair amount of people who don't feel particularly strongly either way.

Sales of hunting/fishing licenses and such do end up funding a lot of conservation efforts, though arguably in a lot of cases the money doesn't necessarily go where it's most needed.

The more conservation-minded folks tend to be quieter about their interests and don't make it their whole personality, they're usually not the ones posing with a deer or fish in their profile pic.

In my area the types of guys into outdoorsy stuff also tend to trash their campsites.

I can't count the number of times I go hiking and find beer/monster/soda cans, empty beefjerky bags, lead fishing weights that were cut off and left next to the rest of the garbage, piles of empty shotgun shells(not just one or two that were missed or fell out of a pocket), cigarette butt's and boxes, ect.

It's always really shitty to find a part of the forest like that. Especially if I can see where there was tree stand above the pile of garbage. I get that deer are basically overpopulated due to milder winters, but take care of the forest my dudes.

Weird conservatives have never been know to understand things like “longterm effects” or “treating what they have with any respect”.

They like buying trucks, guns, and knives. They like showing those things off. Like the “rustic charm” in the memes that are really just about how anti-social they are. They like wearing red and black flannel, camo hats, and acting like they could totally live off the land just because their entire idea of nature is about who’s more violent.

The people who can name the birds and trees, who gather responsibly, and just like to go for a nice canoe aren’t usually too conservative. Obviously it happens but that requires a level effort and stewardship for the land that’s often incompatible with the personality required to grasp onto conservatism.

I remember when Steven Seg*all was a strong supporter of the EPA.

Take it up with men and current gender stereotypes.

"The research, conducted with three other colleagues, consisted of seven experiments involving more than 2,000 American and Chinese participants. We showed that there is a psychological link between eco-friendliness and perceptions of femininity. Due to this “green-feminine stereotype,” both men and women judged eco-friendly products, behaviors, and consumers as more feminine than their non-green counterparts. In one experiment, participants of both sexes described an individual who brought a reusable canvas bag to the grocery store as more feminine than someone who used a plastic bag—regardless of whether the shopper was a male or female. In another experiment, participants perceived themselves to be more feminine after recalling a time when they did something good versus bad for the environment."

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/men-resist-green-behavior-as-unmanly/

It's likely using nature is coded as masculine, while showing you care about nature is coded feminine.