Can millionaires save nature? Stanford gift tells tale of Tompkins conservation fight

Kris Tompkins and her late husband, Douglas Tompkins — renowned conservationist, founder of The North Face and cofounder of Esprit — overcame controversy and adversity to to save a Patagonian paradise.

Now others can learn how they did it.

In a major gift to Stanford University Libraries, the couple’s archives will reveal the personalities and politics that led to the astonishing creation or expansion of 15 national parks, protecting 14.8 million acres of land and 30 million acres of ocean in Argentina and Chile.