Southern California has lost a conservation champion as the Friends of Big Bear Valley announces the death of Sandy Steers, a biologist and group director, at the age of 73.
The group noted Steers’ death “with heavy hearts and great sadness.” The environmental education nonprofit said it would provide more information but asked for “time to mourn and process this tragic news.”
Although Steers spearheaded many projects and fought developers trying to build in the Big Bear Valley, he was perhaps best known for his eagle advocacy.
Eagles typically visit Big Bear only to forage in the winter when their usual sources of livelihood are frozen, according to Friends of Big Bear Valley.
That changed in 2009 when a boy from Catalina began living in Big Bear during the summer. Soon after, two eagles nested on the north side, cementing Big Bear Valley’s role as an important habitat for birds of prey.
In the fall of 2011, the first bald chick, named Jackie, hatched in Big Bear Valley from parents Ricky and Lucy.
The Friends of Big Bear Valley documented and monitored the eagles and spent two years raising money and planning their biggest project yet: installing cameras trained on the eagle’s nest.
Steers and friends of Big Bear Valley have turned the local eagles into a sensation, with thousands of monthly fans logging into the camera feed to track the arrival of the new adults and their offspring.
Jackie, who has been hatching since 2011, is now the star of a 24-hour webcam monitoring her and her partner, Shadow, 145 feet up in a Jeffrey pine overlooking Big Bear Lake.
By 2025, three hatched eagles and two survived and eventually left the nest.
It was that insider access provided by the Steers and the Friends of Big Bear Valley that kept thousands of viewers coming back.
A “Truman Show”-like window into the lives of eagles has contributed greatly to their popularity, but it doesn’t fully explain it. Other nest cameras around the country don’t get as much attention.
Jenny Voisard, media and website manager for Friends of Big Bear Valley, attributes it in part to the personalities of Jackie and Shadow. There is also the dedication of a non-profit organization and its volunteers, such as Steers. Steers, who once volunteered as an eagle counter for the US Forest Service, became the primary authority on Jackie and Shadow.
Years ago, Steers volunteered to watch over the newly hatched chick, watching it grow and eventually fly.
“He absolutely loved this eagle,” said Voisard. That eagle is believed to be Jackie.
About 25 years ago, the first non-profit anti-development organization, Friends of the Fawnskin, named after the community on the north shore of Big Bear Lake, was formed to fight planned residential development. Steers, who had recently moved to the area from the more developed south coast, joined the group. Many of those founders eventually joined the new Friends of Big Bear Valley in the 2010s.
Steers helped lead the push against San Diego businessman Irving Okovita, who wanted to build a 132-condominium, 175-slip marina on 12.5 acres of The Grout Bay area of the North Shore in the early 2000s.
-
Share with
Watch LA Times Today at 8pm on Spectrum News 1 on Channel 1 or stream live on the Spectrum News App. Palos Verdes Peninsula and Orange County viewers can watch on Cox Systems on channel 99.
He was fit He was named in a case accusing him of obstructing work but that he finally died in 2006and development.
Although that effort was difficult, one found success.
In September, San Bernardino County supervisors approved a 50-home project called Moon Camp despite concerns that it would take away valuable raptor feeding grounds. San Bernardino County officials insist the project will not harm the eagles, saying it has undergone an “extensive environmental review” to ensure that.
The site is less than a mile from Jackie and Shadow’s nest, and will be visible from 24 hour live cam.
Bald eagle eggs only hatched about 50% of the time, but the success rate seemed even lower for Big Bear. The camera is installed to help wildlife experts see what’s going on, Voisard said. A second camera capturing a wider view of their space was added in 2021.
Today, a small group of volunteers and contractors observe and record data about Jackie and Shadow every second of the day. Some viewers are overseas to stay tuned while those in the US sleep. They keep track of who is in the nest and count every stick and “soft” delivery. They record eagle calls, mating and all things eggs.
The non-profit organization also maintains a public “eagle log,” which provides updates on what power couples are up to, as well as behavioral analysis and informative stories.
Steers “believed that having an equal story, and science is a way to reach people,” Voisard said. “This was his whole idea.”
Fandom transcends ethnicity, religion, age and political affiliation, he said. Many schools use the nest cam as a teaching tool, introducing children to Jackie and Shadow. Older and disabled viewers are able to connect to nature that they may not have easy access to. Some emergency room workers watch to take a break from their stressful jobs.
As for Steers, the renaissance woman was a children’s author and screenwriter, who earned a bachelor’s degree from UCLAaccording to his LinkedIn account.
He was also a practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), the Inca tradition of Shamanic Healing and a believer in past lives.
His spirit was built after recovering from Stage 4 cancer through other methods, according to his website.
Staff writer Clara Harter contributed to this report.
