An urgent campaign is gaining momentum to protect what conservationists describe as the last undeveloped piece of shoreline on one of Southern California’s most scenic mountain lakes.
Community members have only days remaining to secure the 63-acre parcel known as Moon Camp, a rare lakeside property with sweeping views of Big Bear Lake, located in the mountains outside Los Angeles.
For years, the site has been at the center of a heated development battle. Early plans envisioned more than 100 homes on the land, but after sustained public resistance, environmental objections and court challenges, the proposal was reduced to a 50-home subdivision with a marina.
Even with strong local opposition, San Bernardino County approved the development in 2025, setting off a new round of legal action from conservation organizations that say the project would leave too little habitat for the area’s wildlife.
Now, supporters of the Big Bear Lake conservation effort say the fight has reached a critical final moment.
The San Bernardino Mountains Land Trust has secured a short-term agreement to buy Moon Camp outright, but the deal depends on raising the full purchase amount before the July 31 deadline.
If the fundraising drive succeeds, the property would be shielded from future development and preserved permanently as public open space.
As of July 23, the nonprofit had raised nearly half of its $10 million target. While the goal is ambitious, Southern California developer Ari Rastegar has said he believes the money can still be raised in time.
‘For affluent buyers and people emotionally invested in this area, it is actually very achievable,’ he told the Daily Mail. ‘There is also a huge following around the bald eagles in that area, so there are people who care deeply about the environmental side, conservation efforts and the emotional story of protecting Big Bear.’
Locals have been battling luxury development near the Big Bear Valley area for years – with some mentioning fire safety concerns
Big Bear Lake is used for kayaking and swimming alongside a sandy beach in the California community
The community also recently created a petition to protect Big Bear’s bald eagles from noisy Independence Day fireworks – it earned over 50,000 signatures from concerned locals.
Supporters say the fight extends beyond protecting wildlife.
The campaign argues the untouched shoreline also supports rare native plants, helps preserve evacuation routes in a wildfire-prone region and maintains one of the last natural landscapes around a lake increasingly lined with vacation homes and rental properties.
Sehila Mota Casper, Executive Director of Latinos in Heritage Conservation, added that in a place like Big Bear, gentrification and conservation often go hand-in-hand.
She noted that the community is rapidly becoming a destination for people who can afford to visit – while longtime residents who sustain that destination face a very different housing market.
The city has even acknowledged the need for affordable long-term housing for its workforce.
‘Adding high-value residential development to a market already shaped by tourism and short-term rentals can intensify pressure on land and housing costs,’ Casper told the Daily Mail. ‘Over time, that changes who can afford to live there, who owns the land, and whose presence becomes economically possible.’
‘That is why gentrification is also a preservation issue,’ she added, ‘when communities are displaced, we lose the people who carry the memory, traditions, knowledge and cultural identity of a place.’
Locals only have until July 31 to raise $10million and stop developers from moving into the picturesque area
For some coveted areas, though, real estate experts believe development is inevitable.
For real estate finance and mortgage brokerage firm owner Iraklii ‘Nick’ Panize, who recently closed a hotel refinance in the Big Bear area, there is a way to develop responsibly that will benefit the community in the long run.
‘People come to Big Bear because it feels different from the rest of Southern California,’ Panize told the Daily Mail. ‘If overdevelopment takes away the natural setting that attracts visitors in the first place, it hurts property values, tourism and local businesses.’
The best approach, he said, is ‘improving what’s already there’ while protecting the areas that make Big Bear unique.
