The San Bernardino Mountains Land Trust, a nonprofit conservancy dedicated to permanently protecting forest land in the San Bernardino National Forest, has reached its goal of raising funds to purchase land along the north shore of Big Bear Lake in Fawnskin to prevent a 50-home development project known as Moon Camp.
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The announcement was made Friday morning by environmental nonprofit Friends of Big Bear Valley.
A sign designates the area closed for two nesting bald eagles at Big Bear Lake on March 10, 2026. The proposed Moon Camp housing and boating development is a short distance away in Fawnskin, CA. The forest land will now be under the care of the San Bernardino Mountains Land Trust, a nonprofit conservancy, after it raised over $10 million to buy the land from the developer. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The proposed Moon Camp housing and boating development site is seen across Big Bear Lake in Fawnskin, CA on Tuesday, March 10, 2026. Two eagles nest near the site. The forest land will now be under the care of the San Bernardino Mountains Land Trust, a nonprofit conservancy, after it raised over $10 million to buy the land from the developer. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
A map designates the area closed for two nesting bald eagles at Big Bear Lake on March 10, 2026. The proposed Moon Camp housing and boating development is a short distance away from the world-famous eagles Jackie and Shadow. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Big Bear Lake is seen from the north shore near the proposed Moon Camp housing and boating development in Fawnskin, CA on Tuesday, March 10, 2026. The forest land will now be under the care of the San Bernardino Mountains Land Trust, a nonprofit conservancy, after it raised over $10 million to buy the land from the developer. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
OpenAI co-founder and president Greg Brockman and his wife, Anna, donated $5.5 million towards San Bernardino Mountains Land Trust’s fundraising efforts to permanently protect forest land in the San Bernardino National Forest. (Screengrab from friendsofbigbearvalley.org)
The conservancy group and the property’s owners, Chicago-based RCK Properties, have negotiated a $10 million deal for the conservancy to purchase the land. The purchase agreement is set for $10 million by July 31.
As of July 24, $10.5 million has been donated, including a $5.5 million lump sum given seven days before the purchase agreement deadline by benefactors Anna and Greg Brockman.
Greg Brockman is co-founder and president of artificial intelligence giant OpenAI.
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“Greg and I are grateful to all those who championed saving the home of these majestic eagles, Jackie and Shadow,” Anna Brockman said in a news release shared by Friends of Big Bear Valley. “Like many people around the world, we love watching them be amazing partners to one another and raise their young. They inspire perseverance and a sense of connectedness to something greater, to nature. We are proud to be supportive. We are so appreciative of the San Bernardino Mountains Land Trust and everyone who came together to preserve this incredible ecosystem, the life it will help sustain, and the forest that will be protected for generations to come.”
The development is less than a mile from the world-famous Bald Eagles Jackie and Shadow, whose lives are livestreamed by Friends of Big Bear Valley.
“We are beyond grateful for the tireless support of so many people these past six months. This is a special community that has a real love for Jackie and Shadow’s wellbeing along with nature,” said Jenny Voisard, spokesperson for FOBBV and fundraising lead, in a Friday morning press release.
OpenAI has made headlines this year over assorted legal actions and situations including:
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- A federal court in May dismissed claims filed against OpenAI and its top executives by Elon Musk, who accused them of betraying a shared vision for it to remain a nonprofit dedicated to guiding artificial intelligence’s development for the good of humanity.
- Earlier this month, The Orange County Register, New York Daily News, The New York Times and other media outlets filed court papers seeking “serious sanctions.” against OpenAI, saying the company destroyed evidence and intentionally hid its ability to locate allegedly stolen news stories in training data and responses to ChatGPT users. The motion was filed in Manhattan Federal Court as part of an ongoing copyright infringement suit. The Sun in San Bernardino, the Register, and other papers in the Southern California News Group are part of MediaNews Group. The New York Daily News is part of an affiliated company, Tribune Publishing.
- This week, OpenAI said it was investigating the “unprecedented cyber incident” that led its artificial intelligence systems to break out of a testing environment and hack into another AI company.
