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Butte Environmental Council E-Sentinel

November 2022

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:

Planting on the Ridge Nov 19-2
December 10th Tree Planting
Water Forum is ON in December!

Trees Please Workshop Live
Drop in the Bucket
Internship Opportunity!
Valley's Edge Action Updates

Please Donate or Become a BEC Member HERE

Plant Trees with us in Paradise

We are excited to announce that Paradise will be receiving over 200 new trees on November 19th and 20th.

This two day event runs from 10am to 3pm each day. In addition to planting, we will have an introductory forest therapy walk in the morning to kick off the event. Plus there will be a live biochar production demonstration happening throughout the day and there will be a native tree giveaway for participants!

You can sign up to be a volunteer online at, bit.ly/prpd-trees OR same-day registration will also be available in the morning on both days at Noble Park (directions: bit.ly/prpd-noble)

Volunteers are encouraged to wear pants, closed toed shoes, and a hat. Remember to also pack a lunch and bring lots of water! Due to the large volume of trees, tools are limited. If you have gloves, shovels, garden claws and/or a rake we kindly ask that you bring it to help us get the trees planted in a fast and effective way. P.S. don't forget to label your tools!

For more information, contact the PRPD Volunteer Coordinator, Sophia, at smunoz-oliverez@paradiseprpd.com or call (530) 872-6393.

Other Upcoming Community Events

11/12- Global Day of Action- Oak Way Community Garden work day at 12pm
11/13 - Community Seed Cleaning Day from 2-4 pm (more info HERE)
11/19 & 20th - Planting the ridge
11/29 - T.E.K. Wildtending Plant Walk in Verbena Fields (more info HERE)
Every Friday - Volunteer at Verbena Fields
Every Thursday - Help make local compost with Paradise Community Compost (more info HERE)

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.

We Want YOU to Plant Trees with US!

Mark your calendars for Saturday, December 10, 2022! The City of Chico and Butte Environmental Council are continuing their efforts to expand Chico's thriving urban canopy THIS winter on December 10th, as we host a community-wide tree planting! For this event, dozens of large 15-gallon trees will be planted in neighborhoods throughout Chico and in 20th Street Community Park.

Volunteers will be placed in groups of three to four, so grab your friends, coworkers and anyone else you like hanging out with and sign up as a group to plant trees together! We will assign each group to three to four trees.

If you would like to volunteer to plant trees with us, please email urbanforest@becnet.org with your name and how you would like to help with this event.

Click HERE to Plant Trees with BEC

Rescheduled -Envisioning a Water Smart Community for ALL forum

Save the date because, Envisioning a Water Smart Community for ALL forum has been rescheduled for Thursday, December 15th.

From 5:30-8pm at the Lakeside Pavilion, 2565 California Park Dr, a panel of four experts in regional water issues will present on topics relating to the state of water in our region, the most critical issues we are facing, and what our community can do to be prepared to face continued water insecurities in terms of access to quality water and the health of our watershed.

This event will be held in a hybrid format... join in person or online at, bit.ly/BEC-WaterForum22. Stay tuned for more details!

Trees PLEASE now offers free in class workshops for students!

Modeled after the existing RARE program, BEC is now offering an educational workshop about trees through the Trees PLEASE program. This workshop teaches students about the benefits urban forests have on air quality and energy usage, natural resources management practices, climate change, and environmental stewardship.

Workshops will be in person and include an interactive presentation, an activity and a brief discussion specific to each age group. For qualifying schools BEC offers a free tree to be planted with students for the activity portion of the workshop. Students will walk away from this workshop feeling a sense of responsibility for their surrounding environment. Educators or interested community groups can book a workshop today using our online scheduling system. Please contact Britany at educate@becnet.org if you have questions about this new and exciting opportunity!

Book a Workshop HERE

If you take a look around you will see there are trees EVERYWHERE! So, why do we want to plant more trees? Trees are a natural resource that can be renewed through planting new trees!

The benefits that trees have for not only humans, but the entire ecosystem as a whole is so vast that I could write a book about it. So, here are some of the reasons why trees are good:

Trees encourage biodiversity; they can provide habitat in an urban setting.
Trees offset carbon emissions; they provide shade in the summer and act as a wind barrier in the winter, therefore lowering energy consumption.
Trees reduce stormwater runoff and flooding risks; they allow water to soak into the soil instead of running off into storm drains, which can lead to massive flooding during heavy rainfall.
Trees add beauty to the landscape - especially in an urban setting. There are over 70 thousand tree species in the world and no two trees are alike.

The next time you are outside, take a look around. Imagine a world without trees. I would imagine it is pretty boring, ugly and HOT!

This program aims to divert food waste from the landfill and provide usable soil for gardeners to grow food with, closing the loop of our food system.

We also need volunteers to help with pickups to keep this work going! Pickups can be done by car or bicycle to reduce emissions. We are in need of a bicycle trailer to expand this method’s capacity.

To register please fill out this form by clicking the button below

Or contact sustainability@becnet.org

Help us Say NO to Valley's Edge

This is an urgent call to action to stand in opposition to the proposed Valley’s Edge Specific Plan (VESP) – the sprawling development plan poised to adversely impact 1,448 acres of foothill oak woodland to create primarily inequitable luxury housing units and commercial buildings in the fire-prone area between Stilson Canyon and Honey Run Road. The Final Environmental Impact Report has been released and the Chico Planning Commission will be considering the FEIR and the plan itself likely on December 1, 2022 for recommendation to the Chico City Council. City Council will likely meet soon after the December 1 Planning Commission meeting to decide whether or not to approve the plan for annexation.

WE NEED ACTION! HERE’S HOW YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE:

Prior to December 1, 2022… Send a letter/public comment to the Chico Planning Commission (TEMPLATE–LINK)
Send a letter/public comment to the Chico City Council (TEMPLATE–LINK)
Write a letter to the editor of the Chico Enterprise-Record and Chico News and Review prior to December 1 (TEMPLATE-LINK)
Copy and paste to Post to your social media immediately (LINK)
December 1 - Attend the Chico Planning Commission Meeting – likely to be on December 1, so please mark the date and we’ll confirm
Attend the Chico City Council Meeting (WE NEED BIG NUMBERS!) – Date TBD
Engage your friends, family, and neighbors to take the same actions above
Be prepared for the next phase of opposing the Valley's Edge Plan...

Should the City Council approve the Valley's Edge Specific Plan for annexation, we will need to pivot quickly and help to gather signatures for a ballot referendum. That means that referendum organizers will need 8,000 verified signatures from voters registered in Chico to get it on the ballot. To be successful, organizers will need as many people as possible to sign up to gather signatures in a relatively short window. Please PLEDGE to stand against the VESP by clicking the button below.

When you take any of the above actions, please let us know at BEC by emailing us at advocate@becnet.org and letting us know what you did.

Stay up to date and find the latest templates and calls to action at www.becnet.org/current-issues

View BEC’s press release HERE

Visit the Smart Growth Advocates site at www.smartgrowthchico.org

BEC Comments on the 2021 Draft Environmental Impact Report HERE

Donate to BEC here: Donate — Butte Environmental Council

Can we count on you to take action? Click the button below to pledge your support in opposing the Valley's Edge Specific Plan.

I Pledge to Stand Against Valley's Edge

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.

Caitlin Dalby

Executive Director

(530) 891-6424

staff@becnet.org