The CLT board is composed of seven directors, who collectively bring a wealth of experience in business, conservation policy, land trust operations, nonprofit development, and activism. The common value shared by all is a passionate concern for biodiversity—the focus of the Trust's work.

Doug Tompkins founded and has been president of the Conservation Land Trust since 1992 and of the Foundation for Deep Ecology since 1990. He also founded the California Mountain Guide Service (1963), The North face (1964), a documentary films company (1967) and co-founded the sportswear company Esprit (1970). Doug, climber, skier, kayaker, pilot and overall sports aficionado, has been pushing, for a long time, for the conservation of wild areas. He lives in South America, with his wife Kris. Doug has also directed the publication of seven books of large, photographic format, including ‘Clearcut: The Tragedy of Industrial Forestry' and ‘Welfare Ranching: The Subsidized Destruction of the American West' and ‘Amish: the Art of Tapestry'.

Kris Tompkins helped in the forging of the outdoor clothes company Patagonia and directed it for 12 years, turning it into a renowned company on an international scale. She married Doug Tompkins in 1993, retiring immediately from Patagonia Inc. They moved to the south of Chile, where they created Pumalin Park and other projects associated with CLT. In the year 2000 Kris founded Conservación Patagónica (previously known as Patagonia Land Trust) to purchase, protect, restore and preserve the fragile Patagonian forests, grasslands and coastal areas.

Debbie Ryker was finance director of Esprit and in being so, was a key agent for this enterprise to become a multinational company operating in nearly 60 countries. Her ample experience in large-scale conservation projects and in environmental philanthropy has been essential to the formation of CLT, Conservación Patagónica and Foundation for Deep Ecology. She lives in Mill Valley, California, with her husband and daughter.

Quincey Tompkins Imhoff grew up with the notion that one day she would take charge of the family business Esprit. When her father Doug left the business towards the end of the 80s and started up Foundation for Deep Ecology, Quincey became the executive diector, a job which she carried out for ten years. During that period, the personnel of FDE grew from three people to a dozen and developed many programs of scholarships and books. Quincey lives in Northern California with her husband and two children.

Peter Buckley is a philanthropist with a very extensive history in the trade, kayaker and surfer. After a career as CEO of Esprit-Europe, he began to create institutions for the environmentalist community. His projects include the co-foundation of the Centre for Ecoliteracy and the Greenwood School, added to his new project, the David Brower Centre, a facility designed to inspire and support the activist community.

Tom Butler is a conservation activist and writer, and board president of the Northeast Wilderness Trust, a regional land trust. His books include Wild Earth: Wild Ideas for a World Out of Balance, Plundering Appalachia, and Wildlands Philanthropy, the latter a collaboration with photographer Antonio Vizcaíno that celebrates natural areas established over the past century through private initiative and funding.

George Wuerthner is a photographer, author, and activist who has published more than thirty books on America’s wild places. His recent books include Wildfire: A Century of Failed Forest Policy and Thrillcraft: The Environmental Consequences of Motorized Recreation. Wuerthner has served on the boards of several regional and national conservation organizations and is currently the board president of RESTORE: The Northwoods.

Corporate Name in Argentina:

The Conservation Land Trust Argentina S.A.

Board:
Douglas Tompkins
Eduardo Chorén
Sofía Heinonen