The foundation created by the late creator of U.S. clothing brands Esprit and The North Face turned over 407,000 hectares (1 million acres) of forest, mountain, lakes and glaciers in Patagonia to the government of Chile on Friday, the Tompkins Conservation Foundation said.
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.