Late US billionaire's record land gift lays Chile row to rest

Santiago

DOUGLAS Tompkins's widow vividly remembers the suspicions the late billionaire raised when he started buying up land in Patagonia, the natural paradise at the bottom of South America.

Some accused him of preparing a storage site for American nuclear waste, she says. Others said he was starting a cult, still others that he wanted to launch a Jewish state - even though he was raised Episcopalian.

Now, just over one year after his death, s…