MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Renowned conservationist Doug Tompkins dies during kayak accident in Chilean Patagonia
Douglas Tompkins, 72, the renowned conservationist and co-founder of The North Face, died on Tuesday in a kayaking accident in Lake General Carrera, on the Chilean side of Patagonia. He reportedly capsized in the water and suffered severe hypothermia. A source from Conservacion Patagonica, the non-profit founded in 2000 by his wife Kristine McDivitt Tompkins, confirmed his death. Read full article
Comments
Disclaimer & comment rulesDeath by misadventure.
Dec 09th, 2015 - 09:11 am - Link - Report abuse 0A fair warning to all adrenalin junkies.
I guess Chilean Patagonia is now part of Argentina. Not bad!
Dec 09th, 2015 - 09:57 am - Link - Report abuse 0RIP Mr Tompkins. A true visionary who lived and died his dream. Your efforts improved this country and your legacy will continue to do so.
Dec 09th, 2015 - 10:54 am - Link - Report abuse 0He flogged The North Face to vf (that is how their over-arching holding company name is shown).
Dec 09th, 2015 - 01:39 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Good move really, they made it what it is today.
My new next door neighbour is going to end up the same way. He's 60 now and recently handed over his small farm and fresh vegetable business to his eldest son (his younger son plays for Penerol).
Together, the older son and my neighbour, go fishing every week in a two person kayak some 500M offshore in the South Atlantic.
He tried to mount a four stroke outboard on his two person kayak but I managed to convince the son that this was a suicidal action by drawing out the point of balance shift that this engine would make even if they could somehow put a motor board on his particular boat (no facility at all) which would involve piercing the safety structure.
I now call my neighbour Captain Pugwash.
Tompkins should be remembered as Capt Ahab, another character that let his own ego overcome his physical ability. I just hope he did not suffer too much.
Tompkins will not be missed by the decent people down here. He was an arrogant foreign colonist who used his immense wealth and a mercenary pack of shark-hearted attorneys to eject the most vulnerable citizens from the lands where they had traditionally lived and worked. His efforts to stymie economic development and even rural fire-fighting in southern Chile were legion. Tompkins acquired hundreds of millions in assets in Chile but never relinquished his status as “tourist.” He hypocritically whined about the nature of mechanised progress but operated a small fleet of airplanes. Like a true 19-century coloniser he never developed any real ability with the language and would scarcely deign to speak to the common, local people.
Dec 09th, 2015 - 02:54 pm - Link - Report abuse 0In the end it was probably Tompkins' immense ego and unbridled arrogance that led to his end. Their little kayak expedition was conducted contrary to the law in Chile, and it was carried out in conditions when responsible and competent kayakers would have stayed ashore. The emerging details suggest that Tompkins was not even wearing the minimum appropriate clothing for the existing conditions. Hubris, thy name was Douglas Tompkins.
@5 Interesting perspective. Thanks for posting.
Dec 09th, 2015 - 03:00 pm - Link - Report abuse 0The salmon farming companies will be happier, anyway.
Dec 09th, 2015 - 05:40 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@7 Tompkins was never able to seriously impact the Chilean fisheries other than to use his influence to spread propaganda. On the other hand, disease and market conditions have played much more significant roles in affecting the salmon industry.
Dec 09th, 2015 - 06:17 pm - Link - Report abuse 0(3) Condorito
Dec 09th, 2015 - 10:30 pm - Link - Report abuse 0He was a good man for both our Countries...
Geeee... We need more Yanks like him...
Miss him already...
El Think.
(5) Looks like a big case of jealousy. Here is a guy who buys land, preserves it and then gives it back to the CITIZENS and you hate him for it because he didn't speak your language and stayed a TOURIST. You sound just like the other South American VICTIMS. Pathetic.
Dec 09th, 2015 - 11:41 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@10 - no, read it again. This is an obscenely wealthy foreigner who comes to Chile, cleverly avoids taxation as would be the case of a legal resident, and hires a pack of attorneys to impose his vision on a country where he is not even resident. He uses every legal trick in the book to remove the local people from the land where they have lived and worked and takes that land out of useful productive economic activity. And this is in a country that has already set aside nearly 20 percent of its land area in natural parks and reserves.
Dec 10th, 2015 - 01:04 am - Link - Report abuse 0Marti Llazo
Dec 10th, 2015 - 01:55 am - Link - Report abuse 0Interesting perspective indeed. Thank you.
The UK press is playing it out as, “ he was first loathed, then eventually adored” by the Chileans.
@12 I think it is axiomatic that the media outside of this region are less than thorough in examining local matters. The fact of the matter is that Tompkins and his behaviour were largely responsible for a near-xenophobic backlash against foreigners in recent years, and that sentiment remains today, extending from the little people in the street to the political deputies who represent them, and across the spectrum to include business people. By “ against foreigners” I mean not hostility toward tourists but critical of those buying large holdings and meddling in the local political system. I was in Coyhaique and other parts of Aysen not long ago and observed some of the effects. Be very skeptical of what the UK and US press say about the goings-on in Chile.
Dec 10th, 2015 - 11:39 am - Link - Report abuse 0TOMKINS WAS A SON OF A BITCH , RACIST TOWARD THE POOR IN ARGENTINA, A CLOWN WHO TRIED TO MOCK US WITHOUT SAYING WITH THE HELP OF THE NATIONALS TRAITORS WHO MANAGED AND MANIPIULATES THE REAL STATES AGENCIES TO SELL ILLEGALLY UNDER PRICES.NEXT IS JOE LEWIS.
Dec 11th, 2015 - 03:20 am - Link - Report abuse 0@Think
Dec 11th, 2015 - 09:26 am - Link - Report abuse 0I agree, we need more like him, Yanks or otherwise.
PS: Why the addition of the definite article to your name?
@13 Marti
I don't know what you are talking about. The only xenophobia expressed around Tompkins was back in the last century when he started buying up land and some paranoid types (not helped by sensationalist media) who confuse private ownership with sovereignty, started ranting that he was a threat to national security and territorial integrity.
Since it became abundantly clear that his aim was to protect virgin lands from economic development, most of those claims have ceased.
I don't understand your complaint that he maintained his turist status. What is the problem with that? It only limits his rights in Chile and maintains his tax liability in the US. Neither do I understand your implication that his efforts were for personal financial gain. Can you explain how buying land, then donating it to the state results in personal financial gain.
I agree that we already have a large amount of land in protected national reserves and parks, but not much of that is in Aysen where there are unique ecosystems and home to the world's oldest marsupial species. That Mr Tompkins dedicated his fortune and life to protecting our patrimony is remarkable and commendable.
From what I remember the natives on his land didn't have title.
Dec 11th, 2015 - 03:34 pm - Link - Report abuse 0He's a good guy doing good things with the money he made. Hopefully the land won't be somehow stolen and repurposed after his death.
To properly understand the animosity toward Tompkins in Chilean patagonia and in Aysén in particular (and why many are pleased in his passing) you need an intimate connection with the region and some knowledge of the regional history. Ergo, as a casual visitor you are unlikely to be aware of it. Author Danka Ivanoff and I have written about this in other media. (For background, see Danka's book “La Guerra de Chile Chico, o los Sucesos del Lago Buenos Aires” --- and, nota bene, understand that Chile Chico is almost adjacent to the Tompkins empire in Aysén). It's a matter that has been repeated in the histories of both Argentina and Chile, where the “little people” are encouraged by governments to settle new lands, to clear forests and make improvements and introduce cattle and whatnot. Then other interests, the Tompkins of each era, assemble legal and political pressure on the central government to nullify the claims of the earlier inhabitants. And so Tompkins as others before him usually forcibly removed those earlier settlers and inherited the goods. Except.... in the War of Chile Chico it was a little different, and that colours the attitudes there towards Tompkins el Afuerino.
Dec 11th, 2015 - 07:26 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Ah, it gets more interesting, and given the time and comment space we could discuss the history of the matter at great length. But curiously, the earliest formal settlement of the area (that is now the Tompkins Aysén empire) was done by an anglo-argentine (Tompkins incorrectly referred to Lucas Bridges as English).
Tompkins' claims that the Chacabuco valley is some sort of very bio-diverse unique opportunity is complete rubbish, what you North Americans I think refer to as lies. It's farm/ranch land and there nothing unique or particularly interesting or worth “saving” about it. But there is a national roadway and frontier crossing into Argentina in this valley, and that matter alone raised a few eyebrows and some legitimate concerns.
(15) Condorito
Dec 12th, 2015 - 07:46 pm - Link - Report abuse 0The “definite article” was caused by a new version of the “Lollipop operating system” that caused some havoc in my Samsungs....
I'm good Ol' Think again, though...
About that Non Spanish speaking, confused Anglo Expat Turnip in Chile at (17) that disrespects the memory of a recently deceased non Spanish speaking, bright and friendly Anglo Expat in Chile...; he is just trolling and “Dropping Names”...
Danka, myself and many other Patagonians were, at the beginning, VERY sceptical about Mr. Tompkins true intentions...
CIA agent..?, MOSSAD..?, richy rich psycho besserwissende outsider..?
None of it... Just a good person whose actions and acomplishments spoke and still speak more clearly than any suspicion and paranoia....
He proved us all wrong...
Here, one of my favourite magical places...
One of the many that he was instrumental in saving for posterity...:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monte_León_National_Park
Saludos...
El Think
Yes, I have been to Monte León, long before Tompkins got his hands on it. The estancia was earlier operating as a sheep station, under a British interest. In fact I foolishly ran out of fuel once near the northern entrance, where the old estancia buildings are located, since I forgot to top up before leaving Río Gallegos. I was counting on getting fuel at Le Marchand and no it is not a very argie-sounding name, just a paraje inland from Pto Coig, on the intersection with Ruta 3, but they used to sell fuel there. Used to. Just my luck they had stopped that. So now when you leave Río Gallegos northbound, there is no fuel until you get to Piedrabuena, and that's a long haul with nothing but guanaco carcasses and caranchos along the road. Anyway, yes, I have been to estancia Monte León, long ago.
Dec 12th, 2015 - 10:47 pm - Link - Report abuse 0But you, Tink, have never driven through the Tompkins silliness in Aysén, nor spoken to the locals adversely affected by his dealings. If you had you would see that there is nothing in that valley that is particularly interesting or unique worth “saving” -- particularly when you consider that there are so many ecologically more diverse and complex parts of Aysén that might be closer to the intent of the Tompkins Luddite religion. It almost looks as though Tompkins took that ranch land out of productivity just out of spite, to show how he could tear out fences and uproot people, how he destroy economic activity in Chile. He was getting good at that.
TWIMC
Dec 12th, 2015 - 11:34 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Well it seems that, with the new neoliberal argentinean government in place, them Spey Single Malts will again be imported into Argentina at more afordable prices...
I will surely miss me bianual smuggling horse crossing of the Andes from Xxxx Xxx Xxxxxxx to my Uisge pusher in Coyhaique...
Luckily..., I will still be able to (god willing and the Virgin Mary permitting :-) to packraft down our pristine Rio Baker.... thanks to people like Douglas Tompkins...
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