American Creates Vast Park in Chile

He spent more than $30 million and wrangled with the Chilean government and public for eight years, but a former American clothing magnate-turned-conservationist has realized his dream of transforming his vast lands in southern Chile into a nature sanctuary.

In a ceremony at the gateway to his rainy Patagonian wonderland, Douglas Tompkins, co-founder of clothing company Esprit, donated more than 714,000 acres of almost untouched forest to a Chilean foundation that will run South America’s biggest nature preserve.

The Pumalin Park Nature Sanctuary is a rugged land of mossy trails, steep mountains, deep fjords and clear rivers, with camping and cabins for tourists who fly or boat in from the city of Puerto Montt, 75 miles away.

“I especially salute your perseverance,” Chilean President Ricardo Lagos told Tompkins at Friday’s ceremony. “I never imagined a project to protect our natural resources could have so many obstacles.”

Four years ago, Tompkins threatened to abandon the park after lawmakers and business and civic groups objected that his land purchases limited economic development in the remote area and threatened national security.

Tompkins said he fell in love with southern Chile’s dramatic landscapes as a youth and began buying the land 15 years ago. Tompkins’ Conservation Land Trust and his wife Kristine’s Patagonia Land Trust have purchased more than 2 million acres in Chile and Argentina.

Education Minister Sergio Bitar said he took on the sanctuary as a pet project and worked to turn the tide of negative opinion in Chile, where most people thought of Tompkins as the man who tried to cut the country in half by buying up land.

The decree forming the sanctuary puts the land in the hands of a national foundation and guarantees government access for roads and power lines.

Among the former detractors at the ceremony was Sen. Sergio Paez, who represents the southern part of Chile’s Tenth Region and had criticized Tompkins for allegedly forcing settlers to sell him their land.

“I talked to a lot of people and many people did get good money for their land and they were not taken advantage of, which was what I had feared,” Paez said.

Tompkins and his wife will be on the seven-member board that runs the sanctuary, along with religious, government and academic representatives. His land trust will provide most of the approximately $700,000 a year it costs to administer the park.