I've never looked at it as such.
I am a conservationist not a environmentalist, this doesn't mean I am pro-pollution.
I suppose words can mean different things to different people. To me, a conservationist is one who desires to conserve that which we consume. An environmentalist is concerned with ALL of nature, not just that which we eat, drink, or breathe. It is of course well known that the food chain exist, and if we mess up any part of that chain, that which we consume will suffer as well. That is where I don't follow the logic of those who view "environmentalists" as some whacked out tree hugger. Of course there ARE people like that, but to me they are simply whacked out tree huggers...
Many of our fore-fathers were conservationists.
I believe they were that and more...