Butte Environmental Council E-Sentinel
April 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.
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In this month's issue:
  • April 23 - Endangered Earth Event - Walk for Earth and Rally in Downtown Chico
  • Many other important and exciting upcoming community events!
  • Trees PLEASE - Our new tree planting and education program!
  • Cloud Seeding? Article by Neil Bajaj
  • Get your Klean Kanteen gift with a membership
Our Future Depends on us ALL
This year, on April 23, 2022 - the day after Earth Day - BEC is re-energizing the long-time regional tradition known as the Endangered Species Faire. Given a new name that brings the state of our planet's current environmental crisis to the forefront - Endangered Earth Event - we are bringing the event to the heart of Chico with a "Walk for Earth" through downtown to the City Plaza. At the Plaza, the community will be part of the Earth Rally and get to enjoy guest speakers, music, exhibits, food, and more!

Program - subject to change
10:30 am - Walk for Earth - Children's Park - Check-in starts at 9:30 am
11:00 am - Event Welcome - Chico City Plaza - Intro Speech - Exhibits Open
11:15 am - Music and Poetry
12:15 pm - "Piece for the Planet" open-mic session to speak your passion for Earth
12:45 pm - Music and Poetry
1:15 pm - Featured Speaker Ali Meders-Knight - A Master TEK Practitioner and member of the Mechoopda Tribe, Ali Meders-Knight will rally the crowd with story-telling to motivate us all toward decolonization and Traditional Ecological Knowledge as best practices for the future of our planet for us all.
2:00 pm - Closing

Some of the vendors and exhibits attending include: TEK Chico, Friends of Bidwell Park, Altacal Audubon Society, 530 Food Rescue, Bidwell Wildlife Rehabilitation, Sierra Nevada Connections, Sierra Club - Blue Oak Group, Butte Humane Society, CSU Chico, Sherwood Montessori School, Hernandez Jewelry & Toys, Chico Sky Watch, Scarlett Tanager Books, Recology, The Valene L. Smith Museum of Anthropology, The Lab Food Truck, Chico Chimangos, Spun Organic Cotton Candy, and more registering daily!

We are still accepting registration for vendors and exhibits. Visit the event page for more details about the event and how to get involved at www.becnet.org/bec-events/eee
Join us on the morning of the Endangered Earth Event as we march from Children's Park in downtown Chico to Chico City Plaza. We anticipate dozens of groups and individuals will participate in costume, with small or giant puppets, with signs, in masks and/or headwear, playing music, chanting, singing, and more! You can RSVP ahead of time to let us know you are coming (optional) and check-in starts at 9:30 am the morning of the event!
The Walk for Earth begins promptly at 10:30 am and will end at the center of the Plaza at 11 am.
Congratulations to the winners of this year's EEE Art Contest! We had more than two-dozen amazing entries from the youth across Butte County and the decision for the BEC Board of Directors was SO. TOUGH. Congratulations to Jasmine Ponce of Bidwell Junior High, this design can be found on this year's event t-shirt and posters! Our runners-up, Aubree and Liliana, will see their designs on more than 50 posters that have been put up around Chico. Event shirts, examples above in both colors, will be available at the BEC booth at the EEE in both youth and adult sizes for $12. Visit our booth for a shirt, other BEC merch, and more... See you at the EVENT!
Other Upcoming Community Events
4/1 Wildflower & Nature Festival by the Feather River Recreation and Park District (more info HERE)
4/9 - Monthly Citizen Creek Monitoring with The Stream Team - sign up to volunteer! (more info HERE)
4/22 - Earth Day Festival with CSU Chico Associated Students 10a-2p at Trinity Commons
4/22-24 Tree Planting Event hosted by the Paradise Parks & Recreation District (more info HERE)
4/23 BEC's ENDANGERED EARTH EVENT IN DOWNTOWN CHICO 11a-2p
4/23-24 Chico Velo's Wildflower Century Ride and Wildfest Celebration (more info HERE)
4/26 - TEK Nature Walk at Verbena Fields Every last Tuesday each month from 4-6pm (more info HERE)
4/30-5/1 - May Day Camp with Camp Fire Restoration Project (register HERE; volunteer HERE)
5/1-5/31 - BEC's Bike Month Virtual Pedal-a-Thon (more info HERE) - pending
7/30 - NEW DATE - Chico Bicycle Music Festival presented by Butte Environmental Council
Every Friday - Volunteer for TEK wildtending at Verbena Fields from 10am-1pm (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.
Plant Trees and have a workshop with BEC!
Butte Environmental Council is excited to announce the launch of a new program called Trees PLEASE (Planting Literacy in Environmental Action Stewardship Education). This program aims to plant 75 trees on Chico Unified School Campuses and adjacent CARD parks by the end of 2022! 

We also offer an in-class education component. The goal is to educate youth about the importance of trees through BEC’s Community Air Protection Education (CAPE) Program. This portion of the program is important because it exposes young children to the role that trees play in keeping our air clean, wildfire risk mitigation education, potential land management careers, and teaches them about the important roles that we humans have in taking care of the environment. 

Anyone is welcome to participate in this program, so please make sure you register for your in-class workshop, HERE! If you would like to help be a part of this program, please sign up to be a tree-planting volunteer online at www.becnet.org/get-involved! More trees are likely coming to more schools and parks across the entire region, not just in Chico, so stay tuned! Send your questions to steward@becnet.org
Cloud Seeding? Ice Nucleation could mitigate drought
By Neil Bajaj, local high school student & BEC Member
California is faced with megadrought, wildfires, and extreme weather conditions. Western states have expanded programs to increase precipitation through cloud seeding—sowing clouds with small particles to trigger water nucleation. Water nucleation occurs naturally, this is the process of cloud formation when water vapor condenses on an air particulate.

In 2020, researchers at the University of Colorado and the National Center for Atmospheric Research reported the results of a study conducted in Idaho called SNOWIE. The study demonstrated that snowfall could be increased through cloud seeding. Although cloud seeding is not the remedy for solving the drought crisis, it is yet another tool to help alleviate some of the water crises. If done consistently, cloud seeding could be most effective in keeping reservoirs full and soil moist. 
 
Cloud seeding's origin traces back to World War 1: US planes flying from India over the Himalayas reported technical issues as ice accumulated on the wings, affecting the pilot's ability to pass through clouds. General Electric began investigating how supercooled water in clouds — water below freezing temperature but still liquid — became ice. The experiments were conducted in real clouds, initially with dry ice and silver iodide crystals. Upon releasing silver iodide particles into a cloud, supercooled water droplets form crystals around them, which fall to the ground as snow. Clouds can be seeded from planes or the environment by burning silver iodide in acetone. Could this help mitigate the water crisis?
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
Butte Environmental Council.
Caitlin Dalby
Executive Director
(530) 891-6424