By the time of Douglas Tompkins’ tragic death in 2015, the co-founder of North Face had allotted something of an empire of natural lands. With the success of his outdoor clothing and gear brand, the outdoor legend decided to put his wealth back into the land. He did so to a massive degree in the region he fell in love with first adventuring as a young man with close friend Yvon Chouinard: Patagonia.
Starting in the 1990s, Tompkins began buying up huge swathes of land in Southern Chile and Argentina. This was long before the conservation movement had any kind of influence in the region. In fact, most Chileans and Argentines fearfully speculated about what this rich white dude’s intentions might be. Was he a spy? Setting up some religious commune? Merely making his own affluent nation state while land was still cheap and locals unemployed? Despite the speculation, Tompkins kept at it. It seems the man and his wife, Kris Tompkins, had seen enough pristine wilderness squandered in their lifetime to know they needed to protect what they could while they still could.
In the first years of the ’90s, Pumalín Park, a 400,000 hectare reserve in the Palena Province of Chile, was taking shape. And as the years came and went and more land was purchased, Chileans began to see Tompkins’ revolutionary vision of privately established and owned natural parks take shape. But good intentions aside, they debated as to whether these land grabs were undermining national sovereignty. Their concerns were understandably rooted in what could be seen as a patronizing act of buying land on behalf of those that couldn’t afford it. By the time of his death in a kayaking incident in 2015 with nearly a dozen “parks” throughout South America, it wasn’t evident as to what role the people of Chile and (by proxy) the Chilean government would have in this emerging natural empire.
Last week, concerned Chileans were offered a huge gift. Kris Tompkins donated 408,000 hectares of park land to Chile on behalf of her late husband. The Chilean president, Michelle Bachelet, has also set aside a huge chunk of park land bringing that grand total allotment to 11 million acres. Tompkins Conservation, the non-profit management group of the lands, states that the proposal “includes the largest land donation in history from a private entity to a country; the total area to be protected … is three times the size of Yosemite and Yellowstone National Parks combined.” And while the practice of rich dudes doing things on behalf of everyone else still rubs many rank and file citizens the wrong way, it’s difficult to not see the good in park additions that experts estimate will generate $270 million USD in annual, ecotourism-related revenue and employ up to 43,000 people in the region.
Yeah, a view worth sharing. And protecting. Photo: Olga Stalska
Doug Tompkins clearly had a profound ecological vision. That vision is paying off and now some of the wildest places on earth seem to be receiving the protection they deserve. It is a shame Tompkins couldn’t be at the signing to set an example for the rest of the hyper-rich that seem so intent on colonizing land for selfish ends. But Kris Tompkins, speaking on his behalf, was sure to clarify: “I know that if Doug were here today, he would speak of national parks being one of the greatest expressions of democracy that a country can realise, preserving the masterpieces of a nation for all of its citizenry.”
Douglas Tompkins in 2009. Photo: Sam Beebe
Torres del Paine from Lake Pehoé, Chile. More gorgeous land like this will be protected thanks to Tompkins and Chilean President Michelle Bachelet. Photo: Miguel Vieira