Douglas Tompkins

Douglas Tompkins

Douglas Rainsford Tompkins of Renihue, Chile, 72, a mountaineer, entrepreneur, philanthropist, organic farmer, and one of the Earth's foremost advocates for wild nature died on December 8, 2015, following a kayaking accident in Chilean Patagonia. With seemingly limitless energy, Tompkins pursued a range of passions-from rock climbing and downhill ski racing to graphic design and publishing-during a life filled with extraordinary adventures and accomplishments. Well known for founding The North Face outdoor gear retailer and cofounding the Esprit clothing company with his first wife, Susie Tompkins (Buell), Tompkins left the business world in the 1980s to, as he often said, "pay his rent for living on the planet." At his core an activist for nature and beauty, Tompkins possessed an incredible love for the natural world. He combined this with a refined aesthetic sense reflected in the scores of buildings he designed through the years for his parkland and farming projects.

With the same intensity that characterized his outdoor and business pursuits, Tompkins spent the last quarter-century of his life devoted to environmental activism, funding nature-oriented groups and helping lead campaigns against industrial logging and river-killing dams proposed for Patagonia. Through nonprofit foundations he and his wife, Kristine McDivitt Tompkins, direct, he acquired roughly 2.2 million acres of conservation land, established the world's largest private nature reserve (Pumalin Park in southern Chile), and helped create five new national parks in Chile and Argentina. For his achievements Douglas Tompkins received numerous honors, most recently the Global Economy Prize (2015) awarded by the Kiel Institute in Germany. An astute and passionate critic of technology, he never owned a cell phone.

Douglas Tompkins is survived by his beloved wife Kristine Tompkins of Renihue, Chile; his mother Faith Tompkins and brother John C. Tompkins of Millbrook, NY; daughter Summer Tompkins Walker and son-in-law Brooks Walker and their children Brooks Thomas Walker, Della Walker, and Susie Kate Walker of San Francisco; daughter Quincey Tompkins Imhoff and son-in-law Dan Imhoff and their children Gardner and Willa Imhoff of Healdsburg, CA.

A memorial service was held in Puerto Varas, Chile on December 11, followed by a private burial. A gathering to celebrate Doug's life and work will be held in the San Francisco Bay Area in spring 2016.

The legacy of Douglas Tompkins will live on in the wild habitat, wild creatures, and wild beauty he helped sustain-and in the places that conservationists mentored by him or inspired by his example will protect in the future. Those who wish to honor his memory should, as Doug said, "become an activist!" In lieu of flowers, individuals who wish may make tax-deductible donations to Tompkins Conservation-affiliated charities Conservation Patagonica or the Conservation Land Trust, which support national park projects in Chile and Argentina. Contributions can be made online or by sending a check to either organization at 1606 Union Street, San Francisco, California 94123; 415-229-9339.