Moon Camp Saved in Big Bear
Cabazon: The Next Boomtown?
Chapter Elections
Chapter Happenings
WAC is BAC!
(Our Wilderness Adventure Course)
$10 Million Achieved!
Friends of Big Bear Valley (FOBBV), working with the San Bernardino Mountains Land Trust (SBMLT), had less than six months to raise $10 million to protect approximately 64 acres of forest and shoreline along Big Bear Lakes North shore. The property, an important bald eagle foraging area and rare plant habitat, had been slated for a luxury development of approximately 50 homes and a marina. More than 25,000 donations came from supporters around the world, helping the campaign reach its ambitious goal.
Much of the worldwide enthusiasm for protecting Moon Camp came from the love people have for Big Bear’s famous bald eagles, Jackie and Shadow. Through the FOBBV Eagle Cam, people around the world developed a connection with the pair and the mountain environment they depend upon.
The victory, however, came during a year of tremendous loss. Sandy Steers, longtime Executive Director of FOBBV and a tireless voice for protecting Big Bear’s bald eagles and their habitat, passed away in February 2026. Before her passing, Sandy helped negotiate the agreement that made the purchase of Moon Camp possible. She was posthumously honored in March with the San Gorgonio Chapter of the Sierra Club’s Alice Krueper Service Award, recognizing her longtime service, leadership, environmental education, and dedication to protecting bald eagle habitat.
Then, in August, the Big Bear community and eagle followers around the world suffered another heartbreaking loss with the passing of beloved Jackie. The protection of Moon Camp was monumental, but losing Sandy and Jackie in the same year made this conservation victory especially bittersweet.
With Moon Camp now protected for conservation, there is also a new opportunity for the San Gorgonio Chapter of the Sierra Club to provide educational outings focused on conservation, restoration, ecology, and responsible stewardship. These outings can help participants better understand the importance of bald eagle foraging habitat as well as Moon Camp’s rare native plants.
One of those plants is the Ash-gray Indian paintbrush (Castilleja cinerea), a species found in the San Bernardino Mountains and federally listed as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Protecting Moon Camp therefore means protecting not only a place associated with Jackie and Shadow, but an interconnected mountain ecosystem that supports rare plants, wildlife, and the natural character of Big Bear Lake.
Moon Camp's story demonstrates what can happen when a community comes together around a shared conservation goal. It is also a fitting continuation of Sandy Steers' legacy, a protected landscape where future generations can learn about the rare plants, wildlife, and bald eagles that make Big Bear Valley so special.
By Bill Havert
Snow Creek Road off Highway 111 in the Palm Springs area crosses the San Gorgonio River. 99% of the time you would never know it, but during those rare large rain storms in the Banning Pass, the sandy wash of the San Gorgonio River fills with water and drains a large area. The sand that is carried down the river in those events, and temporarily making crossing the river on Snow Creek Road not such a good idea, gets carried by this “fluvial” sand transport process into the Snow Creek/Windy Point and the Whitewater Floodplain Conservation Areas, where the wind later sorts the sand grains by size to sustain the various sand dune and sand-related natural communities that provide habitat for many unique species, including the Coachella Valley fringe-toed lizard and the Coachella Valley milk-vetch. That may be about to change in a way that threatens this natural sand transport process and the natural communities and species that depend on it.
Since 2008, the Coachella Valley Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan (CVMSHCP) has successfully balanced development and conservation in a 1.1-million acre area. Establishment of a coherent robust Reserve System of 21 Conservation Areas is well advanced, and until now the CVMSHCP has worked well. There is now, however, a serious threat to it in what seems an unlikely area: Cabazon.
For unclear reasons, Riverside County has decided to amend its General Plan to enable up to 22,888 new housing units and almost 2,000 acres of Industrial and nearly 800 acres of Commercial and Mixed-use areas to meet “Cabazon’s anticipated growth and development.” The County is pushing very hard to site the vast majority of its Regional Housing Needs Allocation forecast growth for the entire County into the Cabazon area. Using Riverside County’s current average household size of ≈3.11 persons per household, 22,888 housing units would correspond to a population of roughly 71,180 people. That’s larger than the current population of Beaumont, and about the same as Cathedral City and Rancho Mirage together.
Last year the County started laying the groundwork for such growth and development by establishing the Cabazon Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District, which then approved an Infrastructure Financing Plan (IFP) to capture tax increment funding to help pay for massive infrastructure projects in Cabazon, putting the cart well before the horse since the existing General Plan provides for no such projects, in violation of state law. So now we have the proposed General Plan Amendment (GPA) to get the horse before the cart.
It’s not clear by whom exactly this growth and development is anticipated, but it is clear from the GPA and the recently released Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR), that the proposed growth is existentially inconsistent with the CVMSHCP and the County’s legal obligation to implement the CVMSHCP’s Conservation Objectives and Required Measures. There are numerous Conservation Objectives and Required Measures set forth in the CVMSHCP for the Cabazon Conservation Area that are impacted by the GPA, and a crucial one is the requirement that the fluvial sand transport processes along the San Gorgonio River and its tributaries be maintained to ensure the long-term influx of sand needed in the downstream Conservation Areas. The GPA proposed growth in the Cabazon area includes large scale flood control projects, roads, and land use designations in and along the river that conflict with maintaining the natural flows during storm events.
The CVMSHCP allows modifications of the General Plan land use designations along the river and its tributaries, or construction of any flood control facilities only with a Minor Amendment to the CVMSHCP with Wildlife Agency concurrence to ensure that any changes are compatible with the fluvial sand transport processes. The GPA proposes no such amendment; rather it defers meaningful analysis and any potential mitigation to be undertaken in the future on an individual project-by-project basis. That is not only a recipe for disaster, but also a violation of both the CVMSHCP and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
In addition to violating the CVMSHCP, the GPA ignores all consideration of impacts to the mountain lion, which was listed as Threatened earlier this year under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA). The Pass area is a crucial linkage for the lion and other species between the San Bernardino Mountains, which are part of the Transverse Ranges, and the San Jacinto Mountains, which are part of the Peninsular Ranges. The Linkage is already constrained by the limited existing development in the Cabazon area, but the GPA would eliminate any vestige of a Linkage. The GPA is oblivious to the mountain lion and other species for which a Linkage is important, and the DEIR has no analysis of project impacts or proposed mitigation measures. This is a violation of CEQA and CESA.
Why suddenly the push to develop Cabazon is a mystery. If it is to be developed, however, it must be consistent with the CVMSHCP and with CESA. Those two necessities should have been cornerstones of the GPA planning effort, not afterthoughts to somehow be addressed in the future on a project-by-project basis. That is the antithesis of the comprehensive planning that underlay the CVMSHCP and with which CESA looks at the conservation needs of threatened and endangered species. It’s not too late, but the County needs to withdraw the DEIR, revise the GPA, include the IFP infrastructure projects as well as the Cabazon Master Drainage Plan flood control projects being planned by the County Flood Control and Water Conservation District, and then consider everything together in a Master EIR that also ensures that the totality of the project will be consistent with the CVMSHCP. In short, the County needs a fresh start to do it right.
Bill Havert is a member of the Tahquitz Group Conservation Committee, former San Gorgonio Conservation Coordinator and the first Director of the Coachella Valley Mountains State Conservancy.
Take the next step in your Sierra Club journey and join our leadership team!. Our regional groups and the chapter are seeking nominations or Executive Committee members. Build your leadership skills and lend your talents to our decision making teams!
2026 Election Schedule:
Nominations Close: 9/25
Candidates announced: 9/26
Petition Candidates Deadline: 10/10
Final Ballot provided: 10/12
Ballots sent in Palm & Pine by 10/28
Deadline for ballots: 11/20
The Executive Committee sets the Chapter’s priorities, goals, and strategies which directly impact our region. ExCom members are voted on by Sierra Club San Gorgonio Chapter members each fall and serve two year terms beginning in January. Executive Committee members help set the strategic direction for the Chapter, oversee the finances, and ensure that the Chapter follows governance requirements. Group ExComs have similar responsibilities in their local area.
ExCom Member Responsibilities:
Provide leadership and vision for the chapter. Help establish the strategic direction for the chapter Commit to upholding the Sierra Club’s Values of Anti-racism, Collaboration, Justice, Balance, and Transformation,
Uphold the standards of conduct.
Serve as an ambassador for the Sierra Club in your community,
Promote Sierra Club’s mission.
Ensure financial stability and solvency of the chapter. Approve an annual chapter budget that ensures the financial health of the chapter.
Actively participate in chapter Fundraising Plan
Assist in promoting membership engagement and leadership development
Please consider nominating yourself or someone qualified and willing to serve! The ExCom meets monthly and guides the San Gorgonio Chapter in its vital work to preserve and protect our local environment and residents. To volunteer or to nominate, please complete this form:
San Gorgonio Chapter Happenings!
September brings the end of summer and fast forward to fall, elections, and cooler weather (we hope!) There is so much going on in our chapter here in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties! Did you know our two counties have a population larger than 25 states? We have a larger geography than Rhode Island, Delaware, Connecticut, New Jersey, and New Hampshire combined. Our Chapter has active here for 94 years!
First, our next Chapter meeting at the museum will be on Tuesday, October 6 at 7:00 PM. Be sure to join us as we build community and learn about what our members are working on throughout the chapter. We’ll have time for networking and enjoying refreshments together. You’ll find this and more here on our calendar of Outings and Events. (note: no meeting in September!)
Outings ramping back up with cooler weather. As the weather cools, more outings and events will be on our calendar. Be sure to check often, as leaders are planning for their fall outings now.
Chapter Elections are coming up: nominations for candidates accepted through September 25. Find more information below and on our website.
Wilderness Adventure Course (WAC) is back! Check the flyer at the end of this email to add your name to the Interest List!
Politics: Sierra Club endorses Environmental Champions in local, state and National elections for the November 3 election. Member will receive our October Election Special newsletter with all our endorsements. If you aren't a member, Join Today to receive this print edition.
Local news: We've had several recent settlements with warehouse developers requiring new levels of mitigation to make these projects less harmful to our communities. Learn more on one recent case in our Press Release on the Cajalco Commerce Center settlement is here on the Sierra Club's National Press page.
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