Bozeman-based nonprofit welcomes leadership of NPS alum Brendan Moynahan
EBS STAFF
The Bozeman-based, globally reaching nonprofit Center for Large Landscape Conservation announced that the former chief of wildlife conversation for the National Parks Service Brendan Moynahan, will step in as the new CEO starting in January of 2026. Moynahan will be succeeding founder and current CEO Gary Tabor following his retirement.
“Brendan Moynahan combines the expertise, skills and experience that will make him an excellent CEO for CLLC, and is a worthy successor to our founder,” Board Chair Mary Pearl stated in a press release. “… He possesses all of the critical qualities CLLC needs in its next leader: demonstrated commitment to science, policy, and connectivity; a keen understanding of the critical importance that wildlife connectivity plays in communities; and the ability to help CLLC further its work as a leading voice in the U.S. and global connectivity sector.”
Moynahan has spent nearly two decades working in conservation. In his role with the National Park Service, he led the development of the 2020 Bison Conservation Initiative. This effort resulted in a continental-scale metapopulation system, new relationships through shared stewardship with indigenous tribes, and a signed trilateral Letter of Intent to Collaborate on North American Bison Conservation among the federal governments of the U.S., Canada and Mexico. His work included the coordination and facilitation of approximately 100 natural and cultural resource investigations totaling $10 million in investments.
“I have admired and respected the work of CLLC for years and am deeply grateful for the opportunity to serve as its next CEO,” Moynahan said. “I look forward to partnering with the staff and board to build upon two decades of conservation results rooted in technical excellence and authentic partnerships.”
“It is an honor to succeed Gary Tabor. The sector owes Gary a tremendous thanks for the groundbreaking work he has done to elevate the importance of wildlife conservation and connectivity,” he continued. “I am committed to ensuring CLLC remains a leader in advancing innovative solutions to keep natural and human systems undivided.”
Moynahan’s appointment follows an extensive national and international search led by DSG/Koya, which began when Tabor announced that he would step down after leading the organization since its inception. Tabor not only founded CLLC but helped to create the field of ecological connectivity. In CLLC, he leaves in place a strong voice and advocate for the needs of wildlife and communities in this time of unprecedented urbanization and development.
“Congratulations to Brendan Moynahan as he prepares to take on the leadership of CLLC,” Tabor stated in the release. “His experience working with multiple conservation stakeholders … will undoubtedly serve as a tremendous asset to the organization and the sector.”
Prior to his tenure at the NPS, Moynahan was a supervisory wildlife biologist at the National Bison Range Refuge Complex with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, managing a biological program focused on plains bison conservation, migratory birds and remnant Palouse prairie. He also worked as a program manager for the Southeast Alaska Inventory and Monitoring Network in Juneau, Alaska, where he implemented a landscape-scale monitoring program for all national parks in Southeast Alaska and established interagency agreements with external partners for seabird, intertidal, hydrologic, oceanographic and environmental contaminants monitoring and research.
Moynahan holds a Ph.D. in Fish and Wildlife Biology from the University of Montana where he received his master’s in resource conservation. He completed a bachelor’s in political science with a focus on environmental policy at Bates College.
