April 2025
This Month's Issue:
Endangered Species Faire
Wildflower& Nature Festival
Drop in the Bucket
National Arbor Day - Celebrate our Trees
Tax Filing Resources
Bat Box Build Recap
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The 46th Annual Endangered Species Faire is happening on April 26th from 10-3!
The event kicks off with the "Procession of the Species" foot parade through downtown Chico. Parade participants are invited to wear costumes and bring their puppets to meet at the corner of Salem and 5th Street at the Hands sculpture, before 10 am. Puppeteers will display artwork though the blocked off streets of downtown Chico ending at the stage of the City Plaza. The plaza will be filled with nearly 50 educational and interactive booths, live music by Wolfthump, and other local artists, two bicycle raffles (one tandem, one electric assist), and a raffle for a Bootleg gift card and breakfast package at Deja Vu Breakfast Co.
We will also be featuring a live t-shirt printing hosted by Pedal Press. In an effort to be more sustainable, faire attendees are encouraged to "bring your own t-shirt" (BYOT) to be silk screened on site, enhancing your new favorite tee as a one of a kind event t-shirt, commemorating BEC's 50th anniversary, featuring our local spring run Chinook salmon .
If you would like to be entered into one of our raffles early, go to our BEC Store to purchase raffle tickets for a chance to win a Townie Go! E-Bike.
Tickets start at one ticket for $10 with screaming deals for bulk purchasing. Click the link below for our store to learn more!
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Thank you to our sponsors who gave generous donations to support the event. Their financial support helps BEC continue this Chico tradition. Friends of Butte Creek, Recology, California Health Collaborative, Wildflower Open Classroom, KZFR, California Trout, Pullins Cyclery, Altacal Bird Alliance, Butte County Local Food Network, Chico Housing Action Team (CHAT), and Floral Native Nursery.
Special thanks to Hannah Moore for creating such a beautiful poster with artwork she did for the cleanup last year. Check out Hannah Moore on Esty, Facebook and Instagram.
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We would love to see you at the Wildflower and Nature Festival at Riverbend Park in Oroville this Saturday. Our Rubbish and Recycling Education (RARE) program will feature a recycling relay race near the bounce house by the amphitheater, near the water's edge of the park. Come visit the BEC booth at the Feather River Recreation and Park District beloved festival, with interactive learning games that teach sustainable habits benefiting our ecosystems. The RARE program has been a part of BEC's education outreach for over 10 years and offers students in Butte County the opportunity to learn about composting and recycling practices, through interactive presentations, games, and landfill field trips. A huge component of the RARE program is providing the public with local information on recycling and food waste diversion in Butte County.
We will be hosting an interactive waste sorting activity for all ages at the Wildflower and Nature Festival so come join in the fun on this beautiful spring day!
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Monday Drop in the Bucket Food Scraps Pick-Ups
- Volunteers will assist with weekly household food scrap pickups, that will be brought to the Oak Way Community Garden to be composted.
- If you would like BEC to pick up your household food scraps on Mondays, fill out the google form below to be placed on our wait list.
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Turning Tuesday
- Volunteers will learn the basics of composting by turning the compost piles and incorporating food scraps, while participating in mild physical activity!
- Happens every Tuesday from 9:30-12pm.
- Bring water, close-toed shoes, snacks, sun protection, and gloves (if able)
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We are excited to see the Climate Action Commission agenda for next Thursday, April 10th featuring our friends 530 Food Rescue and an update on food waste diversions in Butte County.
For more information on the 530 Food Rescue Coalition Presentation the Climate Action Commission meeting agenda packet has been posted to the City’s website.
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Mark your calendars - Arbor Day is coming up on Friday, April 25th, 2025! This day is all about celebrating everything trees and what they do to improve our lives. According to the Arbor Day Foundation, “While most holidays celebrate something that has already happened and is worth remembering, Arbor Day represents a hope for the future."
Planting a tree represents a belief in what’s to come - a tree that helps ensure clean air and water, provides cooling shade during heat, fosters habitat for wildlife, encourages a healthy community, and displays abundant natural beauty.
On the first Arbor Day, prizes were offered for the largest number of trees planted within the day. It was estimated that over a million trees were planted that first Arbor Day in the state that started the holiday, Nebraska. Today, the most common date for states to observe Arbor Day is the last Friday in April.
At the local Arbor Day Festival in Oroville, held recently, the city celebrated their designation as a Tree City. This program, Tree City USA, is hosted by the Arbor Day Foundation and requires meeting four standards including people, policy, investment, and celebration, ultimately allowing cities to create a legacy for their community.
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On March 8th, BEC and the Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve (BCCER) partnered to host a Bat Box Build volunteer event to help mitigate the effects of the Park Fire on native bat species at the reserve.
Because of the migratory behavior of bats, many of the bat species returning to the canyon this spring will find their original roosting (resting or nesting) habitat non-existent, critically endangering their populations. Roosting is essential for bats because it provides them with shelter, protection and a location to care for their young. So, volunteers got to work building new bat boxes for native bat species as they return back to the reserve.
Volunteers constructed Tetris-like bat boxes, featuring foot grooves, peek holes, and tree mounts. Working in teams of 2-4, with guidance from BCCER staff, they grooved, assembled, screwed, and painted the boxes to provide new homes for the bats returning to the burn scar at the Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve.
It was a fantastic event, filled with a variety of other activities like compost turning, garden box building, decorating the Free the Food Stand, and fostering community connections.
The BCCER is currently closed to the public, but if you would like to stay up to date on all of their mitigation efforts, learn more information about the organization or support the reserves visit their website or follow them on social media.
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Butte Environmental Council recognizes the original occupants of what is now referred to as the Butte County area and the descendants who are still living here. They include:
Tyme Maidu Tribe-Berry Creek Reservation
Enterprise Rancheria
Mechoopda Indian Tribe
Mooretown Rancheria
We acknowledge and are mindful that these first people have a special and sacred relationship with their ancestral lands and the waters that run through these lands, sustaining them for centuries. We strive to learn from their ways and to be considered by the tribes as allies to respect and steward resources in this life-giving place.
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Contact Us!
313 Walnut Street #140
Chico, CA 95928
530-891-6424
staff@becnet.org
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