Two environmental organizations have launched a $10 million fundraiser to buy more than 62 acres of land near Big Bear Lake, hoping to stop a housing and marina development they say would harm wildlife — including the valley’s beloved bald eagles.
Friends of Big Bear Valley (FOBBV) and the San Bernardino Mountains Land Trust (SBMLT) are behind the effort, dubbed Save Moon Camp. According to LAist, officials say it is the most ambitious fundraising campaign in FOBBV’s history. The groups must raise the full $10 million by July 31 to purchase the land and place it under permanent conservatorship.
The Moon Camp development, proposed by RCK Properties Inc., has been in the works since 2001. It calls for 50 custom home lots and a marina with 55 boat slips in the unincorporated Big Bear Valley community of Fawnskin. The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors has twice voted unanimously to approve the project, first in July 2020, and again in September 2025, though legal challenges from environmental groups have repeatedly slowed it down.
The project site sits less than a mile from the famous nest of bald eagle pair Jackie and Shadow, whose eggs and chicks are watched daily by thousands of fans via FOBBV’s popular YouTube nest camera livestream. The development site can actually be seen in the background of the nest camera’s feed.
NBC Los Angeles reports the site is a key foraging area for Jackie, Shadow, their chicks, and other bald eagles in the region. Environmentalists also warn the land is home to the rare Ash-gray Indian Paintbrush and San Bernardino flying squirrels. They say disruption from construction could make it harder for the eagles to raise chicks — and may even drive the pair away from the area entirely.
The fundraiser carries deep personal meaning for the organization. Sandy Steers, FOBBV’s longtime executive director, spent nearly 25 years fighting the Moon Camp project and made stopping it her top priority. She died on February 11, just weeks after helping negotiate a signed purchase agreement between RCK Properties and the SBMLT, the deal that now makes the “Save Moon Camp” fundraiser possible.
FOBBV said the campaign is now dedicated to her memory.
“We’re doing it for Jackie and Shadow,” said Jenny Voisard, FOBBV’s media manager, in comments to LAist, “because it will absolutely disrupt and devastate that area.”
Voisard described the effort as a “moon shot to buy Moon Camp,” but said it was the most important thing supporters could do for Big Bear Valley.
Before her death, Steers was equally clear about what she hoped to achieve. “Then the developer gets their money, and nothing has to be destroyed, and the land can be protected,” she told LAist last September.
Stephen Foulkes, vice president of RCK Properties, confirmed the company signed a limited purchase agreement with the SBMLT last month but declined to comment further.
If the groups successfully raise $10 million by July 31, the SBMLT will purchase the nearly 63 acres and place it under permanent conservatorship. The long-term goal is to transfer the land to the U.S. Forest Service and add it to the San Bernardino National Forest, a path the SBMLT has successfully taken with hundreds of other acres in the region.
The SBMLT kicked off the campaign with a $50,000 gift. FOBBV will manage the fundraiser and receive no money from it; all funds will go toward the land purchase. Donations of all sizes are welcome, and large gifts will receive special recognition from FOBBV.
San Bernardino County, for its part, said it would not take a position on the fundraiser since it involves private land. “The county simply found there was no legal reason not to allow the Moon Camp development to proceed,” county officials told NBC Los Angeles. “The county does not advocate for the project nor does the county have an interest in the project.”
“We need everyone to be Jackie and Shadow’s hero,” Voisard said.
Donations can be made at SaveMoonCamp.org.
Recent Comments