~ E-Sentinel ~
November 2021
Butte Environmental Council
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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In this Month's Issue:
  • 2021 Member Mixer
  • Silent Auction 46th Anniversary Celebration
  • Food Systems Forum
  • Member Mixer
  • Call to Action - Valley's Edge Public Comment - URGENT
  • More from BEC Programs
  • "Extreme Weather Patterns" - by Neil Bajaj
UPCOMING BEC EVENTS - SAVE THE DATES!
December 10 - Member Mixer - Get your tickets now!
BEC members and non-members are invited to this year's Member Mixer on Friday, December 10 from 6-9 pm at Daycamp Coffee in Meriam Park!
Join us for an evening of live music, good people who care about the environment, food and drink, and important BEC updates. Tickets for this event are FREE for current BEC members, those who donate at least $4 or more per month or $48 per year. Must be 21 to attend. Get your tickets at bit.ly/BEC-MemberMixer21.

We are hosting a special Angel Social Hour from 5-6 pm exclusively for BEC Angel Members - those who donate, as a member, at least $35 per month or $420 per year. This special hour will feature a hosted bar and the opportunity to chat one-on-one with BEC Staff and Board Members.

Enjoy live music and dancing with Chico Big Band and another special musical guest. Free refreshments will include a spread of appetizers and non-alcohol beverages including Daycamp house iced and warm coffee. We will have beer and wine for purchase - alcohol sales go to BEC! We will also have an upcycle craft table to create art from refuse, perfect for ornaments and gifts. This is sure to be a fun event, tickets are limited so get your tickets HERE now!

COVID-safety policy: please show full vaccination status or a negative COVID test within 5 days of the event from a community testing site. Masks and testing, regardless of vaccination status, are encouraged for public health and safety
Celebrate BEC's 46th Anniversary!
Silent Auction and Community Events October 23-November 30
Help us commemorate 46 successful years of protecting and defending the environment by participating in our Virtual Silent Auction happening NOW until Giving Tuesday, November 30th.
 
Items include adventures, self-care, date and family night packages, Sierra Nevada, Klean Kanteen, and Secret Trail swag, artwork, and more. Check out all the auction items at:
 
Be the highest bidder and enjoy your prize or gift it for the holidays. What better gift than a locally-sourced charitable action item? It's the perfect opportunity to find some cool gifts to give this holiday season AND make a difference locally!
 
A huge thanks to our gift donors: Sierra Nevada, Klean Kanteen, Lundberg Family Farms, Cal Skate, Burgers and Brew, Mountain Sports, Hotel Diamond, La Rocca Vineyards, Little Red Hen, The Galley, Secret Trail Brewing Company, The Hatchet House, and individual donors of time, expertise, artwork, and more!
November 16 - Food Security in a Changing Climate
Join Butte Environmental Council for the Food Security in a Changing Climate Community Forum. On Tuesday, November 16th we conclude our “2021 Community Resilience and Climate Change” Forum Series with our 4th and final event aiming to create a more resilient local and regional food system.

Panelists for this forum include Pamm Larry, Eric Chisler, Cindy Daley, Jared Geiser, Eric Wright and Maria Giovanni. With backgrounds in sustainable farming, soil health, food security and more, these regional experts will share their knowledge and lead group conversations on the following topics:
  • Impacts of climate change on the food we produce and eat in Butte County. 
  • Food security/insecurity, and impact of supply chain issues on food availability.
  • Butte County Local Food Network's Local Food Assessment.
  • Soil health, including no-till farming and composting.
  • Water, including the effects of drought on agriculture.
  • Strategies for creating a more resilient local food network.

Attendees can anticipate learning from our region's experts on these topics and experiencing an interactive group discussion in both the in-person and online audiences. You don't want to miss this event! See and share the Facebook Event here: https://fb.me/e/69ywTvhMQTo stay up to date on all of BEC’s community forums, visit www.becnet.org/community-forum-series.
Other November Event Updates
🟢  11/13 10am-5pm - The Chico State Associated Students Gender and Sexuality Equity Coalition is hosting the 23rd Annual Womxn’s Conference! This year's theme is Intersectional Ecofeminism. This FREE conference will be held at the Bell Memorial Union Auditorium, following COVID safety protocols, and will also be streamed live on Zoom. Register HERE, or send questions to gsec.coordinator1@csuchico.edu.
🟢 TEK Seed Workshops at the Butte Creek Ecological Preserve, a 2-day certification workshop offered with a choice of 2 weekends, from 9am-1:30pm, in November:
  • Workshop 1: Sat, Nov 13 & Sun, Nov 14 (SIGN UP HERE)
  • Workshop 2: Fri, Nov 26 & Sat, Nov 27 (SIGN UP HERE)
  • More information can be found HERE 
🟢  Volunteer each Friday from 9am-12:30pm with Ali Meders-Knight to help tend the land in Verbena Fields, more info HERE
Call to Action - Valley's Edge
By Maggie Scarpa, BEC Board Member and Advocacy Committee Chair
BEC to Host Workshop to Guide Public Review of Sprawling Development

Join BEC virtually on Thursday, November 11 at 5 pm to learn about how to navigate the draft Environmental Impact Report process and effectively contribute to public comment.

The Valley’s Edge project is a proposed development near Skyway and East 20th to develop nearly 1,450 acres of foothills and is subject to the California Environmental Quality Act. The draft Environmental Impact Report (dEIR) for the project was published on Friday, October 28, 2021. There will be a public hearing on November 18, 2021, and the public comment period is open until December 13 at 5 pm. BEC is hosting an educational workshop to help citizens understand the proposed project, navigate the dEIR process and effectively contribute public comments on November 11, 2021, at 5 pm online. 

The Valley’s Edge Specific Plan is a 1,448-acre site planned in the Chico foothills, and a prime example of sprawl in the wildland-urban interface, with sparse housing stretching up ridgelines from Stilson Canyon to Honey Run Road. If the plan were to go through, Valley’s Edge would be another peripheral development of private amenities in the likeness of Roseville suburbs or Chico’s own California Park, hardly affordable to the median household income in Chico and controlled by HOAs and user-fees. Development of Valley’s Edge, as proposed, would degrade air quality, exacerbate traffic congestion and automobile dependence, compromise the quality of the urban character of Meriam Park, contribute to irreparable loss of wildlands and habitat for sensitive species, increase wildfire risk, threaten groundwater recharge, and most considerably, cause a significant and unavoidable increase in greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). The land that is dedicated to the project is important wildland and hydrologic space between Big Chico Creek and Butte Creek canyons and would be much better off as preserved wild space and as a buffer against flooding and wildfire for our community.

Make your voice heard: help protect Chico from sprawl and defend important natural resources. 

Click HERE to view the public Valley’s Edge website for more information about the Valley’s Edge Development, and to read the Environmental Review documents. 
Urban Forest Revitalization Program - with the City of Chico
By Alexa Anderson, BEC Intern
FALL for TREES!
It’s finally here! Our fall tree planting event will be on November 13th, 2021. 

In collaboration with the City of Chico, the Butte Environmental Council is participating in the Urban Forest Revitalization Project. This project aims to improve our urban forest health by planting over 700 trees on our urban streets, prioritizing communities that are going to be disproportionately affected by climate change. 

We will be planting trees all throughout Chico to help alleviate future consequences of climate change. Planting these trees will help improve air quality, reduce energy and water costs, and provide shade to protect our infrastructure and reduce heat-related illnesses to members of our community. 


Do you want to help plant trees in Chico?
Sign up HERE for our upcoming tree planting event or to become a general volunteer for the Urban Forest Revitalization Program! 

If you missed your chance to claim a spot for this November's tree planting, don’t worry! You can sign up for our next tree planting on March 5, 2022.
Sign up HERE to reserve your spot for our next tree planting!
BEC Education Programs
By Emily Donaldson, Education and Outreach Program Manager
One of BEC’s main approaches to protecting and defending the air, land, and water of Butte County and the surrounding region is through education. Our goal is to empower our community members of all ages with the most up-to-date information on a variety of environmental topics so that we can build resilience, prepare for the future, raise awareness, and find opportunities to collaborate with one another.

BEC’s educational opportunities are growing! Here is what we offer right now:
FREE in-class workshops for K-12 students, also good for after school youth programs
  • Invite a guest speaker from the CAPE (Community Air Protection Education) or RARE (Recycling and Rubbish Education) programs to your classroom, club meeting, or community event to deliver a fun and engaging workshop, tailored to your grade level, with all materials provided.
  • 45 minutes in duration with optional extension activities.
  • Choose a workshop focused on: 
  • Recycling
  • Oil Recycling (for auto shop, agriculture, or mechanics students)
  • Composting
  • Air Quality *NEW*
  • CLICK HERE TO BOOK ONLINE
Class Field Trip to the Neal Road Recycling and Waste Facility
  • This is a great supplement to a RARE Workshop about the “Four R’s” (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rot). 
  • Students will receive a tour from Neal Road Staff.
  • Tours are 1 hour. Scholarships are available
*Coming Soon* UC Climate Stewards 
  • UC Certification Course offered to the public.
  • Registration beginning Jan. 2022!
  • Learn more HERE
Extreme Weather Patterns
by Neil Bajaj, local high school student & BEC Member
California, a state plagued by drought over the past 8 years, is suddenly receiving more and more precipitation. At the start of 2021, vegetation in California was measured to be extremely dry: with wildfires raging throughout the state. Yet, in late October, we are receiving much more rainfall than normal. Though this might seem like a fluke, coastline areas around the US bear the brunt of these drastic shifts in weather. For instance, the Bay Area, a place normally associated with mild weather, has seen most of its cities deal with large amounts of rain, hail, and even snow- quite unusual, right? But it goes deeper, Texas is dealing with Hurricane Ida- a massive typhoon classified as Category 4. 

The real question has now become, what does all of this mean? Why should this drastic shift, of California from miring in drought and wildfires to dealing with Washington state-like precipitation, matter?
The answer is simple: climate change is becoming less subtle.

Climate change has affected our civilization in countless forms. However, these forms have been less obvious from a surface-level perspective. But now, with the emergence of such extreme weather conditions, it seems very plausible that we as a civilization have no grasp of the volatility of the ever-changing climate. As the average global temperature climbs, regional temperatures, rainfall, droughts, high-intensity hurricanes and wildfires and severe flooding events all are increasing and projected to continue as the world's overall climate warms, according to the National Climate Assessment1. Weather is dynamic and various types of weather can interact to produce extreme outcomes2. We are experiencing the throes of the human-caused climate crisis, and it will be up to us to mitigate the extreme impacts caused by global climate change now and into the foreseeable future.
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, or $420 annually.
  • Sustaining Members contribute between $4 and $34 a month, or $48 annually.
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.
Thank you for your continued support of the Butte Environmental Council.
Caitlin Dalby
Executive Director
Butte Environmental Council
(530) 891-6424