Were in business to save our home planet. The high-school dropout turned outdoors-loving mogul turned eco-baron devoted the last quarter of his life to conservation advocacy. Il miliardario Douglas Tompkins aveva dedicato gli ultimi anni alla battaglia ecologista. ", For nearly five decades they managed to do just that. They have protected more land than any other private individuals in history.. 2. "Conservation is not without its critics and opposition," he acknowledged in an interview just before he died. "We spent 31 days in a snow cave, and that's grim," Chouinard recalls. Woman Funded Sexual Harassment Cases Against Trump", "Meet one of Hillary Clinton's biggest donors in California. He began to invest in conservation groups in Patagonia and offer grants to local environmental groups. We favour those who choose to be guided by ethical values, who respect ecosystems and all their life forms. A former U.S. Forest Service firefighter, he has traveled extensively and covered a wide variety of issues during his career, including the Beijing Olympics, Hurricane Katrina, illegal American tourism in Cuba and a 40-day cross country car trip commemorating the history of automobile travel in America. At the time in South America, there was no precedent for private individuals much less foreigners spending gargantuan sums to save wilderness. Tompkins, who founded The North Face and co-founded the Esprit clothing company, lived a life of such relentless adventure, and in the company of such illustrious friends including Tom Brokaw and the novelist Thomas McGuane that he was a near-legendary figure in the outdoor world. Tompkins was kayaking with five other people in Chilean Patagonia when his boat capsized. Beginning in the mid-1960s, he and Susie Tompkins Buell, his first wife, co-founded and ran two companies: the outdoor equipment and clothing company The North Face and the Esprit clothing company. "The Iber Wetlands: Argentinas Preeminent Wildlife Reserve". We know what to expect -- more confrontation, more outrage, more mistrust.. As a teenager, he got kicked out of his Connecticut prep school and took off for South America to train with the U.S. ski team. This is a carousel. Fitz Roy in 1968. When The North Face founder Douglas Tompkins died after a kayaking accident in December, he left behind an unparalleled legacy: 2.2 million acres of protected wilderness. Truthfully, its a bit ironic, said Butler. He had assembled and preserved the land which became the largest gift of private land to any South American government. Dont worry, we'll only contact you about activism here. Susie Tompkins Buell (ne Russell; born 1943) is an American entrepreneur, businesswoman and a donor to progressive causes. Doug also had a visceral dislike for authority, writes Chouinard, and always relished breaking the rules.. Mr. Tompkins was given many environmental awards, but his efforts were not immune to criticism. Mr. Tompkins attended Pomfret School in Connecticut but never graduated and did not attend college, said Tom Butler, a spokesman for the Foundation for Deep Ecology, which Mr. Tompkins founded in 1990. Doug was a dear mentor to our company and a good friend to many of us here at Patagonia. Everything we make has an impact on people and the planet. In 1991 he bought the Reihu farm, a semi-abandoned farm at the end of the Reihu Fjord, planning to set aside 42,000 acres (17,000ha) of this unique forest from possible exploitation. Directory of locations. This is a guy who was a world class mountaineer, multiple first ascents on many continents and multiple first descents as a whitewater kayaker. In 1989, Susie bought him out of Esprit for $170 million, and Tompkins turned all of his intensity, and most of his new wealth, toward conservation. On December 8, 2015, Tompkins was kayaking with five others (including Patagonia, Inc. founder Yvon Chouinard) on General Carrera Lake in southern Chile when strong waves caused their kayaks to capsize. ", One area in which Tompkins was not cavalier, of course, was land preservation, and after news of his death spread, Tompkins' grand vision for his holdings got one more boost. General Carrera is a picturesque lake surrounded by snow-capped peaks in the Andes. After he sold Esprit, he started to dedicate himself to protecting nature. Sign Up. Tompkins sold The North Face with the intention of a focus on adventure film making.[13]. In 2005, then-president Ricardo Lagos declared this area a Nature Sanctuary, a special designation of the Chilean state, granting it additional environmental and non-developmental protection. Yvon Chouinard, 77, founder of clothing company Patagonia, was in a kayak with Jib Ellison, founder and CEO of sustainability consulting firm Blu Skye. Iber Provincial Reserve, established in 1983, encompasses 1,300,000 ha of wetlands, grasslands, forest, and rangelands, including both publicly-owned lands and private cattle ranches. They split their time between homes in Chile and Argentina, concentrating their conservation efforts in both countries. 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Chilean officials told The Associated Press that Tompkins had been boating with five other foreigners on General Carrera Lake when strong waves caused the groups kayaks to capsize. Kris Tompkins continues the work they started together as president of Tompkins Conservation. He will be missed., A photo posted by The North Face (@thenorthface) on Dec 8, 2015 at 5:11pm PST. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Rumors now range from the conspiratorial to the phantasmagorical: Tompkins is creating a second Israel in South America; he is siphoning off the worlds last freshwater resources for other American millionaires; he is building bunkers for a pending nuclear war. Esprits success in the 1980s fueled much of the conservation work that occupied Mr. Tompkins for much of the rest of his life. This article was amended on 15 December 20 15. Resides in High Point, NC. 3. By 1986, Esprit had grown into a global brand, hitting $800 million in sales. He died from hypothermia at a nearby hospital. Friend of the great climber and surfer Yvon Chouinard, Patagonias founder, they opened a new route on Mount Fitz Roytogether and revolutionised climbing and mountaineering. Instead, he set off in search of adventure. South American news stations reported that Mr. Tompkins was in the water for a lengthy period before he was rescued. A small facility in the Pillan farm processes honey and berries for jams, which are sold under the name Pillan Organics. Douglas Tompkins, co-founder of North Face, dies after Chile kayak accident, Patagonias controversial new national park, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. [39][40] He was 72 years old and survived by his second wife, Kristine (McDivitt), two daughters, brother and mother.[13][41]. 3. Doug Thompson. The brand was greatly success and he sold it in 1968 in order to dedicate himself to the brand Esprit with his first wife, Jane Tise. [4], Susie Tompkins Buell was born Susan Russell in San Francisco in 1943, to parents Clarabelle and Floyd Russell. Credit: Daniel Garcia/Getty Images. "Doug got accused of being a Nazi or planning to bring down girls and give them abortions," Chouinard says. We are the ones who keep putting obstacles in our own way by buying more land. I'm a troublemaker and I'm proud of it. Went to Franklin High School Franklin, North Carolina. They have also lived in Santa Barbara, CA and Milpitas, CA. A military patrol boat rescued three of the boaters, and a helicopter lifted out the other three, according to the army. In the process of buying up land for what he hoped would be 12 national parks, he reforested denuded acres, cultivated sustainable farms, built visitor centers and established hiking trails. [1] In childhood, her family had a second home in Bolinas, which had a profound impact on her love of the natural world. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) SPOKESPERSON FOR THE TOMPKINS FAMILY, HERNAN MLADINIC, SAYING: Tompkins was an avid conservationist and created the . Soon enough, he came back and landed and everything was fine. 6. He was 72. [32], Tompkins' environmental work won him respect and accolades outside of South America: in 2012, the African Rainforest Conservancy awarded Tompkins and his wife its "New Species Award";[33] in 2007, the International Conservation Caucus Foundation awarded its "Good Steward" award to him and his wife, Kris;[34] in 2008, the American Alpine Club awarded him the David R. Brower Award, for his work preserving mountain regions; in 2009, Latin Trade named him the "Environmental Leader of the Year". Tompkins' eventual movie, Mountain of Storms, never achieved commercial success, but it inspired a generation of outdoor-adventure road-trippers. [5] Tompkins had recommended changing the name Plain Jane to Esprit de Corp.[6], By 1986, the global clothing brand had reached $800 million in sales. The family briefly lived in New York City before settling in Millbrook, N.Y., in the Hudson Valley. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate. Includes Address (7) Phone (3) Email (4) See Results. or. That trip had a big influence on both Doug and I, said Chouinard, who five years later founded the Patagonia clothing company, which operates under a mandate to take care of the environment. He was a passionate advocate for the environment, and his legacy of conservation is one that we hope to help continue in the work we do every day. "People thought he was a spy at first," says Claudio Seebach, a former adviser to Chilean president Sebastin Piera. The story of the Ukraine crisis as told by men, women, and soldiers. Butler said he felt fortunate to have spent 10 years as part of the whirlwind of work surrounding Tompkins, whom he described as an inspiring, exhausting, sometimes exasperating leader, a brilliant man with an absolute passion to saving wild nature. [3] She is also noted for her close friendship with Bill and Hillary Clinton and her status as a Democratic Party mega-donor. In 1989, he sold his share of the American company back to Susie, from whom he had separated, putting most of his profits into land conservation. The remote expanses of southern Chile, facing ecological threats from human activity like logging, offered opportunities for the type of large-scale conservation envisioned by this husband-and-wife team. In California just before he died doug was a dear mentor to our company and a good friend many... Respect ecosystems and all their life forms '' he acknowledged in an interview just before he was a mentor... 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