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Butte Environmental Council E-Sentinel
April 2023
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BEC's Mission is to protect and defend the land, air, and water of Butte County and the surrounding region through action, advocacy and education.
Our monthly newsletter is designed to keep our community informed about local issues that impact our region's environmental quality and bring you opportunities to become involved.
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Is this email cut off at the end? Click the link provided at the end to view the full email in a new window. | |
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In this month's issue:
- The Endangered Earth Event- April 22
- Participate in Walk for Earth Foot Parade
- Seeking Community Volunteers
- Upcoming Community Events
- 41 New Trees in the Ground
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- More Trees PLEASE!
- BEC Advocacy update
- Oil Recycling Education
- Apply to be a Climate Action Fellow!
- 2023 Calendar of Events
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Saturday, April 22, 2023 marks 53 years of Earth Day celebrations!
Here is an update on BEC’s Earth Day Fun!
From 9 -10:30am The Walk 4 Earth and Rally will kick off Earth Day in Downtown Chico at Children's Park, 200 W 1st St. Check in starts at 8:30 am, and remember to bring your artwork to showcase during your walk!
From 11 - 2 pm there will be a variety of Volunteer Climate Action Projects that will take place in Chico and Oroville. Click on the links below to sign up or learn more information about each project.
Urban Greening: bit.ly/plant4BEC
Wildfire Resilience: bit.ly/bidwellgreening
Organic Food Waste and Edible Food Recovery: bit.ly/Gardenstart
You can also read more information about our climate action volunteer opportunities below in the Call for Volunteers article.
& The fun doesn't stop there!
From 5 to 8 pm the Environmental Community Gathering will be happening at the Rose Garden, 545 Vallombrosa Ave, where there will be music, refreshments, informational booths, fun demonstrations and activities; this is a free event and fun for all ages.
Stay tuned on our social media accounts and at www.becnet.org/bec-events/eee for more details regarding BEC’s Earth Day FUN!
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Walk for Earth Foot Parade | |
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How do you plan to participate in our Earth Day activities?
There are a lot of things happening this Earth Day and we want to know how you plan to participate. If you are planning to walk with us for the Walk for Earth foot parade, please RSVP below.
There are plenty of ways to participate in the foot parade. Check out the image below for additional ways to get involved.
If you don’t feel like walking is doing enough, then you're in luck! There are a variety of climate action projects for you to get involved in! Check out the article below to read about all of the volunteer projects happening on Earth Day.
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Seeking All Community Volunteers! | |
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Grab your friends, family, coworkers and whoever you like hanging out with and sign up for one of our climate action volunteer opportunities below!
To see all volunteer opportunities, go to bit.ly/volunteerbutte-plumas
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As mentioned above BEC has organized an array of events for Earth Day, April 22nd.
The second portion of our Earth Day fun will be a variety of volunteer opportunities for you to choose from which will take place in Chico and Oroville. We have teamed up with some local organiztions including CHIP, The Hmong Cultural Center, and the South Chico Community Assistance Center to teach community members about how important it is to care for our local environment.
The three focus areas for these projects are Urban Greening, Wildfire resiliency, and Organic waste and edible food recovery. Projects range from starting a garden to tree planting.
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Other Upcoming Community Events | |
- April 1st - BEC at Chico Farmers Market
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April 1st - Wildflower & Nature Festival (LINK)
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April 1st-2nd - BCLFN Chico/Gridley Garden Blitz (LINK)
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April 4th - Secrets of the Sutter Buttes (LINK)
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April 6th- Film Premiere- Elemental: Reimagine Wildfire (LINK)
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April 7th- Film Premiere- Elemental: Reimagine Wildfire (LINK)
- April 8th - Oak Way Garden Volunteer Work Day
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April 14-15th - Oroville Garden Blitz (Volunteers Needed) (LINK)
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April 16th - Wildflower Show (LINK)
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April 20th - Forestry Tree Identification Field Trip (LINK)
- April 22nd - Endangered Earth Event & Environmental Community Gathering
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April 30th - May Faire (LINK)
- Every Monday - Community Composting with BEC
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Every Thursday - Help make local compost with Paradise Community Compost (more info HERE)
- Every Friday - Volunteer at Verbena Fields from 10am-1pm
View BEC's Community Events Calendar HERE. If you would like to promote your environmental-related event to the next newsletter or on the community calendar on our website, please email staff@becnet.org.
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THANK YOU to our volunteeers | |
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Thanks to the hard work of our volunteers and community sponsors, on Saturday, March 18th, we planted 41 new trees in Chico!
We kicked off the event at the Dorothy F. Johnson Center, where volunteers and community members gathered to enjoy breakfast complimentary of Country Morning Bakery, Chico Chai and Beatniks. Attendees listened to some opening words from BEC’s Executive Director, Caitlyn Dalby, the City of Chico’s Urban Forester, Richard Bamlet, and Tami Ritter, District 3 Supervisor.
Then, volunteers broke off into a Forest Therapy Session hosted by The Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserves new Ecotherapy Program! The purpose of the forest therapy walk was to promote the well-being of both people and the land through a guided therapeutic walk followed by restorative activities in local natural environments, Chico neighborhoods through the action of planting trees.
If you are interested in participating in Chico State's new Ecotherapy Program or in learning more, you can visit their website HERE.
Following forest therapy our volunteers were off to plant trees in the community! Our tree recipients are loving their new trees, thank you to everyone who volunteered.
A special thanks to those who donated and/or offered their services to the amazing volunteers. Shoutout to the City of Chico, Cal Fire, California Climate Action Corps, Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserves - Ecotherapy Program, Butte County Local Food Network, KZFR, Chico Chai, Beatniks, Country Morning Bakery, and Fair Earth Nursery.
If you would like to sign up for a free tree, we have a special group of planters who are planting trees on a regular basis until the hot summer months kick in. If you do not get a tree before summer, our next Community Tree Planting Event is scheduled for December 9, 2023. You can fill out the free tree inquiry form HERE!
Funding for the City of Chico “Seed to Shade” project has been provided from the 2021/2022 California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) Urban and Community Forestry Program General Fund.
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Trees PLEASE has some exciting news for Oroville because the Hmong Cultural Center and the Centennial Plaza will be receiving a total of 15 trees on Earth Day and we need your help!
If you would like to help us plant trees at either of these locations on April 22nd from 11-2pm, please sign up HERE.
We also have some other exciting news for Chico Schools because Chapman Elementary School has just received another five new trees, bringing their total Trees PLEASE count up to 15! Many years from now, involved students will have the opportunity to come back to their campus, see the beautiful tree canopy, and sit under the shade of the trees that they planted.
Sherwood Montessori has just received a total of five new trees on their campus. Students here received a variety of apple trees and will be able to pick their own apples once springtime has arrived. Students will also be able to enjoy shade and relief from the hot summer sun on their playground this summer, complimentary of their new Chinese Elm tree!
Stay tuned because we have lots of trees going in the ground as part of this project and if you would like your school, day care, park or other community shared space to be involved in this program, please email steward@becnet.org.
The Trees PLEASE tree stock is running low, so you better hurry!
Funding for this project has been provided through California ReLeaf and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), Urban and Community Forestry Program with funds made available through the California Drought, Water, Parks, Climate, Coastal Protection, and Outdoor Access For All Act of 2018.
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The Advocacy Committee met on March 23rd to discuss Butte Environmental Council’s contribution to the Notice of Preparation for the Barber Yard development.
BEC applauds the Barber Yard specific plan for its commit to the following:
1) Create a wide range of housing opportunities and choices that are generally smaller than the average unit size in Chico and focused on providing options to broad segments of the community.
2) Embrace a variety of transportation choices, including access to public transit, support for people-powered modes, and accommodation of emerging technologies.
3) Create walkability throughout the BYSP Area and into the surrounding neighborhood.
BEC concurs with the Specific Plan when it says, “The City of Chico and the entire state of California are already well-acquainted with the impacts of climate change. Projections of global temperature rise, extreme weather events, and other climate change-related catastrophes paint an even bleaker future that must be taken into account. Any conversation about development must be framed in terms of the future durability of communities.”
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BEC also appreciates the Barber Yard Specific Plan’s recognition of Chico’s Climate Action Plan “to create a plan for a safer and more resilient future…” and the knowledge that “…sustainability is at the scale of local communities, where public health, equity, and longevity are top priorities.”
The Advocacy Committee will finalize a draft of comments for the notice of preparation and submit to the city in the next couple of weeks. Concerns revolve around toxicity of the soil, enhancing the public transportation plan and noise mitigation along the railroad line to name a few.
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Did you know…
Used motor oil is the largest single source of oil pollution in watersheds.
The good news…
BEC is eager to protect our watershed through oil recycling workshops!
Motor oil can be recycled and refined indefinitely! From ag fields to auto shops, motor oil keeps numerous systems running smoothly, but it must be recycled properly. It’s illegal to dump oil, not just in waterways and on land, but even into the trash. Do you know someone who teaches students and also has to regularly recycle motor oil? Let us know! We’d love to get our boots dirty and bring our oil recycling workshop to local classrooms. Contact educate@becnet.org to schedule an oil recycling workshop. Help us educate our community and protect our watershed through our education programs!
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Garden Volunteer Day

We host a monthly volunteer work day at our Oak Way Community Garden. Bring out your friends and family to do some gardening and explore the space. We also accept food scraps for compost!
This month’s event will be Saturday April 8th from 12-2pm.
Rain cancels.
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Garden Materials Donations
Oak Way Community Garden is in need of materials donations!
If you have shovels, rakes, wheelbarrows, etc. that you aren't using bring them by a garden work day!
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Drop In The Bucket
We have a weekly compost pickup service!
Sign Up as a household or a volunteer at HERE.
Join the pickup brigade and help collect food scraps in your neighborhood!
We have 3 community garden drop off sites.
You can learn more on our website https://www.becnet.org/composting
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Apply NOW to become a Climate Action Corps Fellow! | |
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Did you know: BEC is a host site for Climate Action Corps Fellows? We anticipate placing two summer fellows in June and July as well as four fellows for the 2023-2024 11-month cohort. Read more about the program through the state of California and how to apply!
California Volunteers are currently accepting applications for Fellow positions to serve in the 2023 California Climate Action Corps Summer Fellowship and the 2023-24 California Climate Action Corps Fellowship!
To learn more about the 2023 Summer Fellowship, click here. To learn more about the 2023-24 Fellowship, click here.
During the summer program, 80 fellows will be placed for two months (June 5 to August 4, 2023) with host partner agencies and organizations throughout the state. In the fall, 115+ full-time fellows will start an 11-month term of service (September 18, 2023, to August 15, 2024). Fellows will mobilize communities through climate volunteer engagement, climate action and education service projects focused on urban greening, organic waste and edible food recovery, and wildfire resiliency.
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YOU are the reason BEC thrives!
BEC is a grassroots non-profit dedicated to a healthy environment for us all. Our work is made possible by people like you! Being a BEC member means sustaining the work we do for the environment of Butte County and the surrounding area:

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Angel Members contribute $35 or more each month
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Sustaining Members contribute between $4 and $34 each month
You don't have to be a member to contribute:
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One-Time Donations of any amount helps us serve our community and the environment!
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Volunteers help by donating their time, energy, expertise, and resources.
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Thank you for your continued support of
Butte Environmental Council.
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Caitlin Dalby
Executive Director
(530) 891-6424
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