Wildlife advocates push to cancel fireworks over concerns for eagle family

An Independence Day fireworks display at Big Bear Lake in California is threatening the safety of a famous eagle family, according to wildlife officials. Now a local nonprofit is calling for the show to be canceled. Local community interests, however, are pushing back, noting that the city relies on the tourism that surrounds the July 4th festivities.

What does the group want?

Nonprofit organization Friends of Big Bear Valley, which operates a 24-hour live feed tracking the eagle family, posted this week that the loud noises and flashes from fireworks may threaten the lives of sister eaglets Gizmo and Sunny, as well as their parents, Jackie and Shadow.

The group published a Facebook message this week warning of the impact fireworks can have on the environment and wildlife, especially the eagle family. They noted that Sunny and Gizmo are especially vulnerable after just learning to fly. Both completed their first flights in June after hatching in March 2025.

The organization said it has been pushing for the city and its tourism arm, Visit Big Bear, to call off this year’s show for the sake of the popular birds and the local environment, but to no avail.

“Sadly, Visit Big Bear and their agency and community partners are standing by their decision to blast off July 4 fireworks in Big Bear this Friday,” the group wrote. “We have tried speaking with them, all but begging, showing documented proof of Jackie and Shadow leaving the area for days, explaining how fireworks do major damage, not just to birds and wildlife, but to the lake with pollution, the ducks and their babies, the overall environment and humans breathing the air polluted by the event, as well as pets and PTSD humans.”

The group also shared a Change.org petition calling for the show’s cancellation. As of the morning of Wednesday, July 2, the page had more than 35,000 signatures.

Balancing tourism and conservation

Visit Big Bear said it will move forward with plans for its 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular. The organization’s CEO, Travis Scott, told The Desert Sun that officials are working to balance valuable tourism interests and tradition with conservation efforts.

“The board looked at what the firework show [brought] to support our local businesses, our restaurants, our lodging and just overall jobs in our community,” Scott told the paper.

He said that the city typically brings in 100,000 tourists for Independence Day and a number of local organizations participate in the 4th of July Spectacular. According to data obtained by the Los Angeles Times, tourists bring in an estimated $350 million to the local economy. Scott also noted that local groups and government agencies assist in organizing the fireworks show with “wildlife and fire safety in mind.”

“What makes Big Bear Lake a special place is our rich, diverse ecosystem and obviously our resident bald eagles have become the iconic symbol of that,” Scott said. “What our organization strives to look at is that they’re a part of a larger natural balance that we work hard to respect year-round and we do promote environmental education and stewardship and that is also very important to us.”

“The co-existence of the fireworks and the eagles is not a new phenomenon,” he added, noting a pair of previous cases in which officials worked with Friends of Big Bear Valley, including agreements to cancel Memorial Day fireworks in 2022 and using drones instead of fireworks on Labor Day in 2023. 

Past incidents spark fears

Friends of Big Bear Valley described previous behavior exhibited by the eagles during past fireworks shows. 

The group said that after the Fourth of July fireworks in 2022, Jacki and Shadow were not spotted for nearly a week, and they also went missing for three days after Fourth of July fireworks in 2023. 

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also warns that fireworks can cause animals to end up in unfamiliar places, roads and may cause wildlife to fly into buildings or other objects.