ABSTRACT
Between 1903 and 1934, Argentina and Chile became two of the earliest countries in Latin America and the world to create national parks. Federal governments created these parks in the transnational cultural and ecological southern region of Patagonia, a place that still today holds the largest conservation areas in either nation. Although policymakers were the historical actors most intimately tied to the erection of the nature state apparatus, this chapter focuses on the actors who preceded the bureaucrats but whose activities nevertheless represented the growth and outreach of state institutions such as natural history museums. After addressing some of the issues involved in scientific expeditions, the chapter turns to two development projects – demarcating the international boundary and managing forests – that highlight the circulation of scientific knowledge in Argentine and Chilean Patagonia. It then turns to the creation of institutions for conservation in parks on both sides.
