Saying Goodbye To One Of Our Family, By Dr. Mike White, Conservation Science Director

Tejon Ranch Conservancy Executive Director, Tom Maloney showing his classic serious side

It is with very mixed emotions that we say goodbye to Tejon Ranch Conservancy Executive Director, Tom Maloney.  Tom and his wife Andrea are starting a new chapter of their lives in the San Francisco Bay area, with Tom taking a position with National Audubon, and we sincerely wish them the best.  But to me Tom’s departure feels like losing one of the family. 

Tom signing the Conservancy's first conservation easements (and clearly enjoying himself).

Tom was hired in 2009 as the first Executive Director of the Tejon Ranch Conservancy and oversaw the development of the organization from the ground-up.  This meant everything from working with our Board of Directors, hiring Conservancy staff, deciding on the Conservancy logo, buying office furniture, etc.  But ultimately his challenge was to build an organization to conduct science-based stewardship and public access on 240,000 acres of conserved lands at Tejon Ranch, while the landowner, the Tejon Ranch Company, had the right to use those lands for hunting and ranching.  So this also meant he had to help forge a new relationship between the Conservancy and the Tejon Ranch Company, and I think the Conservancy’s successes under Tom’s leadership attest to his success in both these regards.

While all of our staff members have contributed to our success, all of the Conservancy’s “firsts” came under Tom’s leadership, including:

·         The Conservancy’s successful application to the IRS for nonprofit status;

·         Acquiring over $15 million in funding from the Wildlife Conservation Board to purchase the Conservancy’s first 62,000 acres of conservation easements at Tejon Ranch;

·         Acquiring almost another 50,000 acres of donated conservation easements;

·         Receiving a donation of the Conservancy’s first piece of property in fee-title (we own the dirt!);

·         Receiving Land Trust Alliance (LTA) accreditation for adhering to high corporate governance standards;

·         The Conservancy’s first Ranch-wide Management Plan and Public Access Plan;

·         Development of a robust public access program;

·         Development of a volunteer docent program;

·          The Conservancy’s first on-the-ground stewardship activities;

·         The first graduate student research projects conducted on Tejon Ranch;

·         Initiation of inaugural citizen science events like the BioBlitz, Christmas Bird Count, Breeding Bird Blitz, and Purple Martin Surveys; and

·         New discoveries, such as several endangered plant species found for the first time on the Ranch.

Tom at the Conservancy's first Christmas Bird Count

Did I mention Tom likes to watch birds?

But on a more personal note- Tom is an interesting guy and set a unique style in the office. He is quite a comic (he's got a million of 'em) and I think I can safely speak for the staff when I say we know most of his jokes and stories by now! Tom has an eclectic taste in music, with interests way too long to list here, and he enjoys movies. I can also tell you he is quite particular about his coffee (maybe that's why he moved to the Bay Area!) and sometimes a little ice cream in the afternoon. But seriously, he has been a great Director. He has given me latitude to do my job as I think best and the support to do it the best I can. In my experience that is a rare leadership skill, and I and other Conservancy staff feel fortunate to have such a great Director to work with.


Did I mention Tom is a birdwatcher?  I guess that’s actually an understatement.  Tom is a serious birder.  No, Tom is darn near a bird “whisperer!” Tom not only identifies birds when he sees them, he knows their calls and songs, behaviors, timing of migration, when they winter and where they breed – you get the picture.  He’s the only person I have ever heard use the expression “birder’s Tourettes Syndrome” (the propensity to shout out the names of birds passing by in the middle of a conversation in the field) to characterize his behavior. For Tom, birding is not a hobby, it’s a way of life.

The Conservancy is off to a strong start not only because of his leadership but because of his skills as a fundraiser, which for a nonprofit is just as important.  Tom helped raise well over $2 million in donations, grants, and contracts from individuals and private and public organizations.  The Conservancy is fiscally sound, and due to Tom’s organizational skills, will continue to run smoothly in his absence.

Tom in Sacatara Canyon. He also obtained private funding to install fences that restrict cattle access to these riparian habitats

Most of you don’t know that Tom and I lived together in the Conservancy’s rental house in Lebec after he was hired, so Tom and I got to know each other pretty well.  We got to spend a lot of time together, ended up having a lot in common (listened to a lot of Grateful Dead), and became friends.  So for me Tom’s leaving is more than just changing Directors.  I have learned so much from him and can thank him for helping create my dream job. At the end of the day, Tom has helped build and lead an organization that does great conservation work, in a fantastic landscape, in cooperation with a willing partner, and that’s a legacy any of us would aspire to leave.

Because of Tom’s leadership, the team he built will all carry on implementing the mission of the Conservancy.  We look forward to working with our new Executive Director, and all of you, to protect, enhance and restore the native biodiversity and ecosystem values of Tejon Ranch and the Tehachapi Range for the benefit of future generations.

Ground control to Major Tom (sorry, I had to say it)

What the Heck is a Conservation Value Anyway? By Dr. Mike White Conservation Science Director

con·ser·va·tion \känsər-ˈvā-shən\ noun:  a careful preservation and protection of something; especially: planned management of a natural resource to prevent exploitation, destruction, or neglect.

con·ser·van·cy \kən-ˈsər-vən-sē\ noun:  An organization (or area) designated to conserve and protect natural resources.

As a professional conservationist, I often see the world in terms of conservation values.  What do I mean by conservation values?  These are the specific features, characteristics, functions, species, and spirit of a place that humans value and desire enough to protect, and therefore prioritize as an economic value.  For example, a scenic vista could be a conservation value that someone might want to protect from a visual obstruction such as a transmission tower.  Solitude is a value of the wilderness experience that inspires peace in the soul.  There are myriad conservation values that contribute to our own individual “sense of place,” and that humans see, experience, and prioritize differently. So, effective conservation programs must be explicit about the conservation values targeted for protection.

The Tejon Ranch Conservation and Land Use Agreement (affectionately known around here as the Ranch-wide Agreement or RWA), conserves 240,000 acres of the Tejon Ranch.  Conservation at Tejon Ranch is via conservation easements, which legally restrict some of the landowner’s land use rights that are considered incompatible with preserving and protecting conservation values, while allowing other compatible land uses to continue.  Under the RWA, conservation easements at Tejon Ranch are structured to protect seven specific conservation values.

1.      The property supports open space lands important to maintaining various natural communities.  Natural communities are distinct groupings of plants and animals—for example, oak woodland communities, grassland communities, or Joshua tree woodland communities.  Because of its geographic position at the junction of four major bioregions in California (Sierra Nevada, Great Central Valley, Mojave Desert, and South Coast), Tejon Ranch supports one of the largest diversities of natural communities in California, including many novel communities that are rare in other parts of the state.

A unique association of natural communities in Sacatara Canyon:  a Mojave Desert Joshua tree, California juniper, piñon pine, rabbit brush, and buckwheat community next to valley oak and foothill pine from the Great Central Valley and Sierran foothills.

2.      The natural communities and habitats are largely devoid of significant human alterations, and thus support intact ecosystem processes on which the communities and species depend.  Natural communities depend on ecosystem processes such as natural wild fires, floods, nutrient cycling in soils, gene flow between plant and animal populations, predator-prey relationships, pollination and dispersal of seeds, etc.  Tejon Ranch is large enough and wild enough to still support many of these processes, and our mission is to ensure that they continue with minimal alteration from human land uses. 

High flows in Tejon Creek during the winter of 2011.  Flooding is an important ecosystem process in stream and riparian communities.

 

3.      Tejon Ranch supports all or part of numerous intact watersheds, which support natural watershed functions and high quality aquatic, wetland, and riparian habitats.  A watershed includes all of the land that drains to a specific creek, and Tejon Ranch supports a number of individual watersheds.  For example, the watersheds of Tejon Creek, El Paso Creek, Tunis Creek, and Pastoria Creek comprise about 115,800 acres that all drain to the Great Central Valley.  These watersheds, especially their upper reaches, have not been substantially altered by roads, been cleared of natural vegetation, or modified by stream diversions or dams.  Intact watersheds therefore support more natural ecological functions—such as the rate at which rain infiltrates into the ground or runs off into the stream, or the amount of soil that is eroded from hillsides and carried downstream—than less intact watersheds.  Natural hydrological functions tend to support higher quality aquatic, wetland, and riparian habitats.  The Conservancy’s mission is to protect, and enhance where needed, the relatively intact watersheds at Tejon Ranch to maintain high quality habitats.

A view from the Blue Ridge into the El Paso Creek watershed.  The upper watershed is relatively intact—it has largely natural vegetation cover, with few roads, and no dams or stream diversions.

4.      The property provides significant regional landscape connectivity functions, and its protection will ensure that this function will be maintained and this area and its existing features will be available for its natural habitat values.  Tejon Ranch lies at an important geographic position between protected private and public lands to the east, south, and west.  Thus it serves as a lynchpin in the conserved lands network in this region of California.  Conserving connectivity allows movement and dispersal of animals and plants, both within and outside their ranges.  Think of a mule deer or black bear trying to travel from Sequoia National Forest in the Sierra Nevada to the Los Padres National Forest in the Central Coast Range (see map below), which would be almost impossible without significant conservation at Tejon Ranch to protect connectivity functions.

Public and private conserved land in the Tehachapi region.  Conserved lands at Tejon Ranch play a critical role in protecting connectivity functions in the region.

5.      The property supports diverse flora and fauna dependent on its high quality natural communities, functional watersheds, intact ecosystem processes, and landscape connectivity.  Protection of the property also helps support numerous other species dependent on its habitats, food resources and water supplies.  The amazing geology and diversity of vegetation communities result in the high biodiversity of plant and animal species.  With the help of our partners and citizen scientists, we have documented nearly 1,000 plants, over 250 birds, over 40 reptiles and amphibians, and over 40 mammal species on the Ranch, including over 60 special status species (species of conservation concern).

Some species found at Tejon Ranch (clockwise from upper left):  American badger, ringneck snake, Tehachapi slender salamander, alkali mariposa lily, Vasek’s clarkia, and Bakersfield cactus.

6.      The property contains scenic resources, and the protection of the property will provide a significant public benefit by preserving open space against development pressure and will protect scenic qualities unique to the area.  What can I say?  Tejon Ranch is a beautiful place and we want to keep it that way!!

Wildflowers among Joshua trees in the Antelope Valley.

Buttercups in the upper El Paso Creek watershed.

7.      The property contains important cultural and historic resources, and the protection of the property will provide a significant public benefit by ensuring the preservation of these resources.  Tejon Ranch supports an important cultural and historic heritage.  It was long occupied by several Native American tribes, who likely shaped its landscape with their management practices.  The Tehachapi Mountains and Tejon Ranch were visited by a number of California’s early explorers and scientists, including Fremont, Carson, Xantus, Williamson, Engelmann, Grinnell, Jepson, and Twisselman, who helped uncover its secrets.  The Conservancy is now partnering with other scientists and naturalists to help us to continue explore and interpret this heritage and share it with the public.

Numerous buildings and infrastructure remind us of the long human history in this region.

The Tejon Ranch Conservancy is legally obligated to protect these conservation values at Tejon Ranch and to enhance them where warranted and feasible.  We are also charged with and have the pleasure of sharing them with you.  So next time you pay a visit to Tejon Ranch, think about what you value most about this incredible place, and then come back and help us protect and enhance it!