Why Kris Tompkins Donated 1 Million Acres of Land to the Chilean Government

Photo of Kris Tompkins courtesy of Tompkins Conservation. 

Earlier this month Kris McDivitt Tompkins, leader of Tompkins Conservation, announced her donation of 1 million acres of land to the Chilean government. It was the largest private donation of land to government ever. The land came with a promise from Chilean President Michelle Bachelet to merge the the gifted land with another 10 million acres of Chilean national lands to create 11 million acres of new public lands. The total area to be protected is three times the size of Yosemite and Yellowstone National Parks combined.

Patagonia Park in Chile. Photo courtesy of Tompkins Conservation. 

Tompkins and Bachelet are on a mission to “rewild" Chile by creating national parks that will combat biodiversity loss from years and years of development and deforestation. They also aim to use the public lands to aid in Chile’s ecotourism. 

Bachelet has agreed to create five new national parks, including two of Tompkins Conservation’s park creation work, Pumalín Park and Patagonia Park, and the 1 million acres they contain—and expand three others.

Photo of Pumalín Park in Chile. Photo courtesy of Tompkins Conservation. 

From tompkinsconvervation.org:

This proposal will help create the “Route of Parks,” a 17-park network spanning more than 1,500 miles from Puerto Montt to Cape Horn that Chilean citizens, nature lovers, global adventurers and tourists from around the world can enjoy. The Route will safeguard Patagonia’s wilderness and provide a boon to economic development in the South of Chile, with the potential to generate US$270 million in annual, ecotourism-related revenue and employ up to 43,000 people in the region.

The deal won't be finalized until later this year.

Doug and Kris Tompkins. Photo courtesy of Tompkins Conservation. 

Tompkins and her late husband Doug have an impressive history with land conservation in South America.  In 1991, Doug—who also founded The North Face—purchased a ramshackle farm in Southern Chile with a goal to conserve it and turn it into a public park. In ’93, he married Kris who had just left her job as the CEO of Patagonia, and together, they began spending their fortune on, and for, public lands.

Pumalín Park. Photo courtesy of the Tompkins Conservation.  

Over the course of 23 years, the couple bought 2.1+ million acres of land and set aside 12 protected areas of land in Chile and Argentina. They positively gave their lives to the cause. Sadly, Doug died in 2015 in a kayaking accident but I'm sure he would be elated to see his wife is continuing to carry out their dreams in the most beautiful of ways.

“I wish my husband Doug, whose vision inspired today’s historic pledge, were here on this memorable day. Our team and I feel his absence deeply,” Kris Tompkins said. “But 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 realize, preserving the masterpieces of a nation for all of its citizenry.”

Tompkins Foundation by the Numbers:

Acres purchased for conservation: 2.1+ million 

Acres donated to create and expand national parks: 591,154 

Additional national park acres leveraged from Tompkins Conservation land donations and other tools: 1,291,688

Total area (in acres) conserved by Tompkins Conservation and partners to date: 3.41 million

New national parks designated; existing national parks expanded: 6 / 1

New provincial parks established: 2

Global rank of Pumalín Park, in size, for privately owned nature sanctuaries: #1

Additional national parks Tompkins Conservation hopes to create with future land donations: 5

Public campgrounds constructed: 18

Campgrounds destroyed by volcanic eruptions: 1

Sheep removed from Estancia Valle Chacabuco to start Patagonia National Park project: 25,000

Percentage of the global population of endangered huemul deer conserved at Patagonia Park: 10 percent

Miles of ranch fencing removed by Patagonia Park volunteers: 400+

Cows removed from private conservation lands at Iberá Natural Reserve: 15,000

Properties improved for residents of El Amarillo, gateway to Pumalín Park: 30

Initiatives to reintroduce missing species or recover imperiled species in parklands established by Tompkins Conservation: 12+

Giant anteater cubs born in the wild following the species’ successful reintroduction: 39 (at least)

Number of pampas deer born in the reintroduced populations at Iberá: 65

Annual percentage growth in the imperiled pampas deer population: 33 percent

Schools established at conservation projects implemented by Tompkins Conservation: 4

Children participating in 2015 Patagonia Park outdoor education program: 713

Iberá gateway communities assisted for ecotourism economic development: 6

Agricultural properties purchased and restored by Doug and Kris Tompkins: 23

Agricultural jobs created from farm/ranchland operations: 162

Acreage devoted to agro-ecological projects (organic farms, ranches, habitat): 315,499

Grants made to nonprofit organizations working to protect the Earth: 2,210

Years spent fighting to stop proposed Patagonia dams: 7

NGO s engaged in ¡Patagonia Sin Represas! anti-dam campaign: 80+

Funds directed to book publishing and associated activist campaigns: $13.5 million

Book titles published: 26

Books granted to activists, NGOs, and distributed commercially: 135,751

Publishing awards: 4

About The Author

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stash member Leslie Hittmeier

Leslie is a freelance writer and photographer. Storytelling is her focus and she spends her time following badass skiers and climbers around in their natural habitats. As an obsessed skier and climber herself, she plays and trains in the Tetons.