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Butte Environmental Council E-Sentinel

May 2023

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.

Is this email cut off at the end? Click the link provided at the end to view the full email in a new window.

In this month's issue:

Butte Enviromental Council is Hiring
Help Chico Beat the Heat
Introducing the California Volunteer Grant
Endangred Earth Event Recap
BEC's RARE Program

Announcing the BEC UC Climate Stewards Course
Chico Gets Shady
Oak Way Community Garden
Apply to be a Climate Action Fellow!
2023 Calendar of Events- Chico Biycle Music Festival-Canceled

Butte Environmental Council is Hiring!

Are you passionate about the land, air, and water in Butte County, and have a background in financial management?

Do you have experience working with quickbooks, managing accounts payable and receivable, payroll and financial reporting?

Take a look at the opportunity to BECome the Butte Environmental Council’s next Administrative Specialist. The BEC Administrative Specialist is responsible for maintaining all administrative operations for the organization with specific focus on finances, membership coordination and related fundraising efforts, as well as general administrative support as needed.

Job posting open until filled.

Apply Now

Help Chico beat the heat

Would you like to contribute to urban greening in Oroville? We have the opportunity for you to participate in tree planting through our Trees PLEASE program funded by Treecovery.

Next Tuesday, May 9th, we will be planting trees in Bedrock Park in Oroville starting at 10 am. If you would like to plant trees with us, please show up at 10 with any tools you can bring (we will be able to provide some, but if you have your own- even better!).

Come prepared with water and snacks and dress appropriately in long pants, long sleeves, close toed shoes, and a hat.

The address of the park is 1101 5th Ave, Oroville, CA and you can contact Miranda at steward@becnet.org if you have any questions.

This tree planting event is also hosted in partnership with California Climate Action

Corp, a program of California Volunteers, Office of the Governor.

Funding for Trees PLEASE 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.

Butte Environmental Councils Volunteer Program

If you are an organization that has a project in one of these three focus areas and would like the help sourcing volunteers please reach out to Britany Lovio at action@becnet.org. Or you can fill out the google form linked below. There are many ways that we can work together to get some action done in Butte and Plumas county.

I have a project, I need help

In January Butte Environmental Council (BEC) was awarded a California state grant through the department California Volunteers for the Volunteer Infrastructure program. BEC’s project, Volunteer Butte-Plumas, intends to coordinate and execute volunteer-driven events in the Butte and Plumas county area on projects that aim to enhance our region’s climate resilience in the state’s required 3 areas of focus: Wildfire Resilience, Organic Waste and Edible Food Recovery, and Urban Greening.

This grant will allow us to engage 800 unique volunteers in climate action projects. We had a sneak peak of some of these climate action projects during our April event, the Endangered Earth Event. We engaged a total of 45 volunteers in projects in Chico and Oroville. In the top left corner you can see a picture of a group of volunteers working on planting trees in Oroville. We are planning for more days like this. Keep an eye out for the orange and blue California Volunteer logo. This will mean there is an option for you to get involved as a volunteer.

Endangered Earth Event

Oh Earth, we love the way you turn. Nothing is better than being surrounded by like minded individuals embracing the things they believe in. This Earth Day Butte Environmental Council led children and parents in a Walk for Earth through downtown Chico streets. We turned heads as we circled the Saturday farmers market carrying hand made endangered species puppets.

The second portion of the day, we had 60 volunteers engage in climate action projects. We planted in 20 garden beds at Murphy Commons with both the murphy commons and creekside place residents, planted 16 trees in Oroville, weeded a pathway at Caper Acres and removed the South Chico Community Assistance Centers front lawn.

That evening we gathered at the CARD Creekside Rose Garden. People from our community joined us as we listened to live music, drank Secret Trail brews, and celebrated our planet. In the events learning room we had organizations share mini-lessons. Altacal Audubon Society spoke about local birds, and Smart Growth Advocated spoke about the effects of urban sprawl, Camp Fire Restoration Project showed a movie about Blue Oaks. We also announced the environmental awards for the 2022 year. Congratulations to Maggie Scarpa and Jared Geiser for winning environmentalist of the year, and Susan Tchudi for winning the Michael McGinnis Award. We wrapped up the night with a grounding in gratitude workshop run by Kim Michl in the learning room which inspired us all to stay grounded during these changing times. Thank you for all who attended and supported this event.

Other Upcoming Community Events

May 6th - Movies in the Park with CARD at 6pm (HERE)

May 6th - Wildfire Preparedness Day with Cam Fire Restoration Project

May 13th - PRD hosts Paradise Chocolate Festival from 10am-5pm (HERE)

May 20th - Astronomy on the Lake (Kayaking) from 6:30-10:30. (HERE)

May 27th - Community Kayaking at 5:30pm (HERE)

May 30th -T.E.K Wildtending from 6pm-8pm (HERE)

Every Monday - Community Composting with BEC

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.

BEC’s RARE Program has enjoyed an exciting Spring!

In February and March alone, we visited all of CARD’s after school programs in Chico. We had the great oportunity to to share our recycling workshops. RARE interacted with over 900 students in Butte County through Recycling and Composting Workshops and Landfill Field Trips! We appreciate the opportunity that our partnership with CARD has given us to expand our reach this Spring. BEC was also at CARD’s 60th Annual Spring Jamboree event Easter weekend where over a thousand people were in attendance!

Environmental Education Associates pictured above, Bridget (black jacket) and Shelby (flannel) who started in February have thoroughly enjoyed interacting with students through RARE programming and are looking forward to sustaining and growing BEC’s impact in the community through environmental education. Before this school year comes to an end we encourage educators to sign up for any of our educational workshops using the link below.

If you believe in this critical work, please consider becoming a sustaining member with a monthly recurring donation with as little as $3 a month. To support environmental education in our community, you can make a donation to BEC online or call the office (530-891-6424) to learn more.

BOOK A WORKSHOP HERE

Butte Environmental Council is thrilled to announce that we will be offering the UC Climate Stewards certification training in Summer and Fall 2023 as part of our environmental education program. We are currently in the planning phase: updates with specific class dates and more details will be available on our website shortly.

BEC website

Chico gets Shady

Summer is coming which marks the end of our tree planting season! This is your last opportunity of the season to get your name on the list and possibly get a tree planted before the summer.

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. 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, or click the button below.

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.

Garden & Composting

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 and tool donations!

This month’s event will be Saturday May 13th from 12-2pm.

Rain cancels.

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

Apply NOW to become a Climate Action Corps Fellow!

To learn more about the 2023-24 Fellowship, click here.

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.

Did you know: BEC is a host site for Climate Action Corps Fellows?

We have been hosting two Fellows fro this past year Rose and Molly, and are welcoming two summer fellows in June. This program has helped out our organization tremendisouly and we anticipate placing four more 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 2023-24 California Climate Action Corps Fellowship!

Butte Environmental Council is sad to announce that we wil be canceling the Chico Bicycle Music Festival on June 10. We know this event is a highlight to many peoples summer and we want to try to make it happen later this year. Stay tuned for updates. For now keep cool and ride on.

Click here to register for 2023 Bidwell Park Clean Up

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:

Angel Members contribute $35 or more each month

Sustaining Members contribute between $4 and $34 each month

You don't have to be a member to contribute:

One-Time Donations of any amount helps us serve our community and the environment!
Volunteers help by donating their time, energy, expertise, and resources.

Donate or Become a Member HERE

Thank you for your continued support of

Butte Environmental Council.

Patrizia Hironmous

Executive Director

(530) 891-6424

staff@becnet.org