News
Tejon Ranch Conservancy Announces First Executive Director
Nature Conservancy Veteran Tom Maloney to Guide Stewardship of California’s Celebrated Landscape
Lebec, California – Tejon Ranch Conservancy — an independent nonprofit conservation organization overseeing stewardship across the vast and newly protected portions of the Tejon Ranch — announced that Thomas Maloney will serve as its first executive director. An expert in resource management and a highly respected veteran of The Nature Conservancy, Maloney will lead the team that will protect and restore lands on the Tejon Ranch and create opportunities for the public to enjoy this California landscape.
“A landscape as vast and as varied as Tejon Ranch really needs to be matched with visionary conservation leadership,” explained Graham Chisholm, director of conservation for Audubon California and chairman of the Tejon Ranch Conservancy board. “Tom’s depth of experience, strong scientific grounding and deep love of the land make him the perfect choice to guide a young organization as it tackles one of the most ambitious conservation ventures in the history of California.”
Last summer, five of California’s leading environmental organizations — Sierra Club, Audubon California, Natural Resources Defense Council, Endangered Habitats League and the Planning and Conservation League — announced an agreement with the Tejon Ranch Company to permanently protect the vast majority of the ranch. As part of that agreement, which was unprecedented both for its size and scope, the Tejon Ranch Conservancy was created to manage the newly protected lands and pursue additional conservation opportunities for the area. In particular, it will be responsible for monitoring and enforcing a conservation easement across 178,000 acres of Tejon Ranch and working with the state of California and others to acquire an additional 62,000 acres. It will also develop and implement a long-term, science-based, stewardship plan to protect and restore habitat for the property’s diversity wildlife, including numerous endangered and threatened species.
“Just as Tejon Ranch sits at the crossroads of four major ecological regions, the Tejon Ranch Conservancy is a meeting ground for some of the best conservation talent in California,” stated Maloney. “I am honored and excited to work with the Tejon Ranch Conservancy board to implement this groundbreaking and exemplary conservation agreement.”
Maloney spent the last eight years with The Nature Conservancy (TNC), most recently serving as interim ecoregional director for the coastal region spanning from Santa Barbara to the Oregon border. During that time, he earned a reputation for managing complex legal and scientific issues and fostering partnerships that led to effective, long term protection of California’s cherished habitats. Previously, he directed The Nature Conservancy’s San Luis Obispo and Plymouth Pinelands (MA) programs. He also worked as the Connecticut River Steward for the Connecticut River Watershed Council, where he fostered partnerships across a four-state region to launch a major fisheries restoration initiative, strengthen environmental protections and promote conservation of New England’s largest waterway.
Tom is highly skilled at working through complex natural resource issues and negotiating with private landowners and public agencies to do what is best for the land,” stated Chisholm. “He is the right leader to bring together the best science and the best people to ensure that Tejon Ranch’s signature landscapes will be protected and enjoyed for generations to come.”
