Sandy Steers, the late executive director of Friends of Big Bear Valley and the force behind the celebrity eagles’ nest cam, is being remembered as the nonprofit races to raise $10 million by July 31 to protect roughly 63 acres along Big Bear Lake’s north shor
BIG BEAR — A bald eagle drops off a fish to two growing chicks, the nest perched high atop a Jeffrey pine. From a pontoon boat idling on Big Bear Lake, cheers rise—made possible, boaters say, by a nonstop livestream of the nest that lets people watch day and night.
For the people gathering nearby, the moment lands with two meanings at once: wonder at the eagles’ survival, and grief over the woman who made that attention possible.
On Saturday, about 100 people met at Big Bear’s Veterans Park to honor Sandy Steers, the late executive director of Friends of Big Bear Valley. The lake glittered while swallows threaded through blue skies. Recordings of the memorial have since drawn more than 53,000 views.
Steers. who was 73 when she succumbed to cancer in February. built a reputation not only as a caretaker of the birds but as a fighter for the surrounding landscape. More than a dozen speakers described a biologist who took race car driving lessons. worked for NASA. and—most prominently—turned Jackie and Shadow. a bald eagle couple. into an international phenomenon through the nest cam.
“She wasn’t just a biologist,” one speaker described in words that others echoed with tenderness: a person who brought her work into real life, and then insisted the real life be defended.
Shelley Egan, one of two interim executive directors replacing Steers, called her predecessor “a Disney princess.” Egan said, “Not that she wore the gowns and stuff like that, but she fed the animals, she fed the birds, she invited them onto her porch, into her home, onto her hand.”
Tim Krantz. professor emeritus at the University of Redlands. recalled being brought in with Steers as expert witnesses for the eagles in a lawsuit against a developer over a different project. “she looked like everyone’s sweetest grandmother. ” he said. then added. “Yet she completely judo chopped the defense’s legal team. They didn’t know how to deal with her.”.
Joy Benedict, a journalist with CBS L.A., said she met Steers about a decade ago during her first story on Jackie, Shadow’s mate, when the nest cam was installed. Benedict said she kept returning as the eagles generated news, watching Steers help give them a platform.
“No one was excited to see the growing family more than Sandy,” Benedict said, recalling a moment when Steers cried with excitement when three chicks hatched.
Benedict also described how Steers guarded her own story. “But as much as I spoke with Sandy over the years about her beloved eagles. when I asked her about her personal life. she kind of deflected. ” Benedict said. Benedict described conversations where Steers would say. “I’m still waiting for my Shadow. ” and Benedict would answer. “So am I. ” and they would laugh and move on. After Steers died, Benedict said she regretted not pressing further. “I wish I would have pried a little more out of this woman that we all loved,” she said. “I wish I would have shared a little more of myself.”.
Even as the memorial unfolded, the organization’s emergency was already waiting. Friends of Big Bear Valley was preparing to launch a fundraiser to halt a 50-home and 55-slip marina project when Steers died.
Last September, the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors approved Moon Camp, the housing development. At the time. county officials said the project wouldn’t harm the bald eagles and described it as having undergone an “extensive environmental review.” Friends of Big Bear Valley disputes that conclusion. saying Jackie and Shadow use the land as a prime foraging area. The development sits less than a mile from the eagles’ nest and would. the nonprofit argues. remove a rare stretch of undeveloped forest in a busy vacation destination.
A 2018 Times article quoted a spokesperson for RCK Properties. which owns the land. describing the project as “truly special.” The spokesperson added that “there are lots of people in Los Angeles and Orange counties who would love to build a home” there. The same article said the design at the time precluded development on the eagles’ lakefront hunting grounds.
Pushing ahead without Steers, the nonprofit has raised more than $3.3 million to date, largely through small donations. Steers willed $50,000 to the cause.
If the effort succeeds. the San Bernardino Mountains Land Trust would conserve roughly 63 acres. with the possibility of transferring the land to the U.S. Forest Service. Steve Foulkes. a vice president for RCK. confirmed the land trust has the option to buy the site for $10 million by July 31. Foulkes declined to comment on Friends of Big Bear Valley’s claims about the development.
The math is tight enough that even the speakers who sounded most resolute spoke in the language of risk. If the fundraiser falls short. the land trust could borrow the rest of the money—“which will be tough”—or partner with another organization to buy the land. said Jenny Voisard. media and website manager for Friends of Big Bear Valley.
“Failure is not an option,” Voisard said. “We’re not going to let them build on it.”
From the pontoon, she pointed out the marshy shoreline and a dense sea of pines at stake.
Under the canopy of the Jeffrey pine, nature continued its work without asking who would win below. Jackie and Shadow’s youngsters—now teens by eagle standards—were hopping and flapping as they prepared for their first flight, known as fledging.
On Friday, several groups of fans aimed spotting scopes and binoculars at the nest from Dana Point Park. Audrey Pope of Santa Ana said she had been hoping the chicks hadn’t fledged yet because they were close. “That’s an exciting time,” she said. The Popes’ granddaughter introduced them to the eagles and now they watch online “24/7.”.
Nearby. Lezlie Harris. holding a small. calm dog. said she began watching the raptors about two years ago. “when things were at a low point in America but I needed to not do doomsday.” Even with the trials—she referenced a harrowing storm last year that claimed the life of a chick—she said the livestream helped. Harris moved from Las Vegas to Costa Rica a little over a year ago. and she said the first thing she does each day is fire up the YouTube feed.
Though she had never met Steers, Harris planned her trip to Big Bear to line up with the memorial. “The livestream ‘brought me joy,’” she said. “It brought me happy.”
This spring, the chicks were dubbed Luna and Sandy, a nod to Steers, after local third graders made the final call in a community naming contest.
When the youngsters finally take wing, Steers’ name will carry on—over the lake, through the trees, and into the fight that continues to protect the land where she taught people to look up.
Big Bear Sandy Steers Friends of Big Bear Valley bald eagles nest cam Moon Camp San Bernardino County $10 million fundraiser San Bernardino Mountains Land Trust