States of Nature

{{short description|Book by Tina Loo}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Infobox book

| States of Nature =

| name = States of Nature: Conserving Canada's Wildlife in the Twentieth Century

| author = Tina Loo

| language = English

| country = Canada

| genre = Environmental History

| published = 2006

| publisher = UBC Press

| isbn = 9780774812894

| series = Nature {{!}} History {{!}} Society

| pages = 320

| image = States_of_Nature_book_cover_(UBC_Press,_2006).jpg

}}

States of Nature: Conserving Canada's Wildlife in the Twentieth Century is a 2006 book by Canadian historian Tina Loo. The book analyzes the history of nature conservation in Canada throughout the 20th century, paying particular attention to the contributions of and interactions between both state and private actors, effectively tracing "shifting and conflicting attitudes toward the natural world" and the "roles of the state, urban sportsmen, and rural peoples, from resource workers to First Nations."{{Cite book|last=Loo|first=Tina|title=States of Nature: Conserving Canada's Wildlife in the Twentieth Century|publisher=UBC Press|year=2006|isbn=9780774812894|location=Vancouver|pages=4}} Loo argues that over the course of the century wildlife conservation came increasingly under the purview of the state, yet had firm roots in informal, localized practices.{{Cite journal|last=Cadigan|first=Sean T.|date=2007-10-01|title=Tina Loo. States of Nature: Conserving Canada's Wildlife in the Twentieth Century. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press. 2006. Pp. xi, 280. $29.95Reviews of BooksCanada and the United States|url=https://academic.oup.com/ahr/article/112/4/1153/12431|journal=The American Historical Review|language=en|volume=112|issue=4|pages=1153–1154|doi=10.1086/ahr.112.4.1153|issn=0002-8762}} She highlights this expanding bureaucratic and scientific state presence as being part of a larger process of "rural colonization," but also shows how private groups and individuals continued to play an important role in adapting and implementing conservation practices.{{Cite web|title=Warecki on Loo, 'States of Nature: Conserving Canada's Wildlife in the Twentieth Century' {{!}} H-Canada {{!}} H-Net|url=https://networks.h-net.org/node/3449/reviews/27327/warecki-loo-states-nature-conserving-canadas-wildlife-twentieth-century|access-date=2020-07-22|website=networks.h-net.org}} Ultimately, Loo argues that wildlife conservation was shaped by, and ultimately shaped in turn, Canadians' values about their relationship with the natural world.