best friend of Chouinard, is a mountain climber, Deep Ecologist, and forward-thinking businessman. Tompkins was the founder of The North Face and co-owner of the ESPRIT clothing company. After reading the book Deep Ecology: Living as if Nature Mattered, Tompkins sold his share of Esprit, and began concentrating all of his energy on the defense of nature. Beginning with a purchase 1,000 acres of forest in Chile, Doug and his wife Kris have expanded this reserve to a massive 2.2 million acres in both Chile and Argentina.



Doug has never desired to keep the land privatized. His intention has always been to return the land to the government as a national park. As if land preservation was not enough, Doug also is adept bush pilot and organic farmer.