The Philanthropy Forum at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs will host a free public lecture and discussion titled “Wildlands Philanthropy from Patagonia to Pittsburgh: Complexities of Securing and Safeguarding Parklands for the Long Run” from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Feb. 13 in the University Club’s Ballroom B.

The address will be given by Tom Butler, vice president for conservation advocacy for Tompkins Conservation — a philanthropy started by Kris Tompkins (former CEO of Patagonia) and her late husband Doug Tompkins (founder of Esprit and the North Face) to focus on national park creation, rewilding, and efforts to foster local economic vitality through expanding ecotourism.

Working on two continents and for more than three decades, philanthropists at Tompkins Conservation have secured more than 13 million wild acres, re-wilded other lands to create more than a dozen new national or regional parks. Their latest and most ambitious gift conserved more than 10 million acres of national parklands in the Chilean and Argentinian regions of Patagonia.

Butler's remarks will be followed by remarks from Larry Seltzer, CEO of the Conservation Fund, and Caren Glotfelty, executive director of the Allegheny County Parks Foundation. 

An RSVP is requested; click here or email the Philanthropy Forum at gspiapf@pitt.edu.