June 2025

This Month's Issue:

Chico Co-op Round UP for BEC

38th Annual Bidwell Park & Chico Creeks Cleanup

BEC 50th Anniversary Gala

A Thank You To Hooker Oak Elementary School

Compost Extravaganza Recap

Funding the Vina GSA Fee Study Report

Trusted Messenger Network Successes

WE ARE GAURDIANS Documentary

When purchasing at the Co-op this month, tell your cashier that you would like to round up your purchase to the nearest dollar to support BEC's mission to protect and defend the land, air, and water of Butte County and the surrounding region.

The Co-op is Chico’s only community-owned grocery store - they have the best local and organic produce, freshly prepared meals, and healthy food in town!

Become a member of the Co-op and save!

At the Co-op, instead of a fee, there is purchase of shares (or paying into an equity investment). These investments allow the Co-op to expand its inventory, make improvements, finance operations, and minimize debts. The members own the business and the profits belong to the community.

Advantages:

• Join the Board of Directors, vote in elections, and share in the store's profits!
• Patronage Dividends: Each year, the Co-op distributes a portion of its profits back to its owners. Patronage dividends are given based on a proportion of profit made by the business. Once this amount is determined, the dividend is calculated according to how much each owner has spent during that fiscal year at the Co-op.
• Case Discount: Owners receive a 10% case discount on all pre-ordered cases (excluding sale items).
• Economic Assistance: Owners already enrolled in Cal-Fresh may be eligible to receive an additional 5% discount on all items purchased from the Co-op!
• No Risk: All of your shares are fully refundable at any time.

Bidwell Park & Chico Creeks Cleanup

It's that time of the year again to sign up for BEC's annual creek cleanup! This cleanup is the largest community based, volunteer driven creek cleanup in all of Butte County, which is the 38th in its year for our community.

Last year, with the help of 372 volunteers, we were able to remove nearly 6 TONS of waste from our creeks, riparian habitats and adjacent parks. This year, we hope to do even more and we need your help!

Start recruiting your friends, family and/or coworkers to spend a day out in the sun together this September, wearing matching BEC signature one of a kind free event cleanup t-shirts and picking up trash to benefit our local ecosystems.

Save the Date

Ticket Sales Coming Soon

A Thank You to Hooker Oak Elementary School

For the past few weeks, Hooker Oak Elementary School has been teaching their first grade classes about what it means to donate to community organizations. Students were given fake money to choose between donating or spending that money - an overwhelming amount of kids chose to donate their money to a local non-profit. Teachers then matched the amount of money students donated, totaling $300, to be given to a community based organization of their choosing, which was BEC!

Through our Recycling and Rubbish Education (RARE) program, we were able to connect with teachers and students at Hooker Oak, giving students a fundamental understanding of the solid waste stream in Butte County and how their donations can make a difference in preventing food waste from ending up in landfills. 

Non-profit organizations like BEC rely on donations and memberships to bring community events, impactful programs, and educational workshops to life. All of us here at BEC would like to extend a resounding THANK YOU to Cameron Cooper and his first grade class for choosing to donate to BEC.

If you are inspired to donate to BEC and contribute to our tree planting programs, creek cleanup initiatives, and other important resilience-based programs, consider donating to or upping your monthly sustaining member donation to BEC!

Compost Extravaganza Recap

The Butte Environmental Council recently hosted their first “Composting Extravaganza” at the Oak Way Community Garden, bringing the community together to learn about food waste, worms and community building. After just a couple hours of participatory science and some dirt chat, people left with new knowledge, connections, compost soil and delicious pastries graciously donated by Natalie at Soulful Slices.

Check out her pastries and bagels online at soulfulslices.com and keep an eye out for the next composting workshop and event!

Funding the Vina GSA - Fee Study Report

The Vina Groundwater Sustainability Agency (Vina GSA) adopted a Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) fee in 2023. This money would be used to fund the Vina GSA’s groundwater management operations. The maximum charge allowed was $3.09 per acre. The actual fee ended up being $1.54 per acre for FY24 and $2.53 per acre for FY25. There will be a public hearing to discuss the FY26 fee next week. The public hearing will take place June 11, 2025 at 5:30pm at the City of Chico Council Chambers located at 411 Main Street in Chico. If you own land within the boundaries of the Vina Subbasin, the fee will appear on your Butte County tax bill.

According to the Vina GSA, “The public is encouraged to participate in the public hearing and provide comments either in person at the public hearing or submit via email prior to the public hearing to vinagsapubliccomments@chicoca.gov”.

A Fee Study Report outlining the fee methodology and proposed fee amounts may be accessed through this link. Additionally, hard copies of the Fee Study Report are available for your review at the Chico Public Library (1108 Sherman Ave, Chico, CA, 95926), the 2nd Floor Public Works Counter at City of Chico (411 Main St, Chico, CA, 95928) and the Vina GSA office (308 Nelson Ave, Oroville, CA, 95965).

If the SGMA fee is adopted, it will begin to be collected with the 2025-2026 property tax roll by the Butte County Treasurer-Tax Collector. If a property does not receive a tax bill, it will be invoiced directly by the Vina GSA.

To access the public hearing agenda, the draft resolution, the Fee Study Report, and additional information, visit www.vinagsa.org. To provide comments or ask questions about the Public Hearing or the Fee Study Report, call (530) 552-3592 or email VinaGSA@gmail.com.

Trusted Messenger Network Successes

With a heavy heart, but a joyful smile, BEC is wrapping up our current partnership with the Office of Community Partnerships & Strategic Communications (OCPSC). With the support of OCPSC, we were able to continue community engagement initiatives through the Trusted Messenger Network of California by representing far north as Region 1. Our efforts were instrumental in supercharging statewide outreach by sharing vital resources and delivering culturally resonant information to drive meaningful change.

Here are snippets of what we've been able to accomplish through the OCPSC partnership and financial support:

• Our Good Fire weekend engaged over 8 non-profits with tribal community members in discussion and practice of intentional land stewardship (Traditional Ecological Knowledge) in addition to pyrotherapy and native seedball making and the support of fire tamales.
• Provided a bit of shade at Verbena Fields during the Groundwater Dependent Ecosystem (GDE) Field Workshop for the Vina Subbasin. Audubon CA, The Nature Conservancy, and Ag Innovations organized this workshop, through a grant from Department of Water Resources (DWR) with the Vina Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA).
• Activated local volunteers at our Oak Way Community Garden through bat box builds, composting workshops, worm bin builds and garden box builds, where folx were able to engage with each other, have fun, and focus efforts on food sovereignty and habitat creation.
• Collaborated with the Canoemobile organization & DWR with Classroom Aquarium Education Program, affectionately known as Eggs in The Classroom, and native seed ball making to educate children through ecological activities on the Sacramento & Feather Rivers.

“Anytime there is an event in my community BEC is present giving us information about

ways we can work together to have a better community and planet in these

challenging times.” - Casafloral, article commentator, greatnonprofits.org

OCPSC continues to be a helpful resource for the Butte County community. If you’re in need of resources check out the California Community Resource Guide.

For hyper-local resources check out the HelpCentral - 2-1-1 Butte/Glenn Resource website for local needs.

WE ARE GUARDIANS Documentary

Directed by: Edivan Guajajara, Chelsea Greene, Rob Grobman

85 minutes, 2025 English, Portuguese, and Tupi with English Subtitles 

From June 13-15, there will be a table at the Pageant Theater to sign up for local opportunities to engage in land stewardship in the Plumas National Forest and at our local Bidwell Park & Chico Creeks Cleanup at Hooker Oak Park on September 20th.

"In the heart of the Amazon Rainforest, the Indigenous forest guardians stand at the frontlines of the fight to protect their ancestral lands from relentless invasions and deforestation. As more and more people illegally invade their lands each year, devastating centuries-old forests for resources and fast profits, these small groups of guardian's risk everything to protect their forest and way of life. Now, as the health of the entire Amazon teeters at the edge, will Brazil and the world take notice? WE ARE GUARDIANS offers an intimate portrayal of the lives ensnared within this crisis, bringing a multitude of voices from this complex landscape to the forefront. Indigenous forest guardian Marçal Guajajara and Indigenous leader Puyr Tembé stand at the frontlines of this fight, risking everything to protect their ancestral lands and way of life from relentless invasions and deforestation. To them, the Amazon is not just home—it is life itself, worth every sacrifice to ensure its survival for future generations." - From The Pageant Theatre website, Chico's Premiere Independent Theatre

Instagram: @pageantchico

SHOWINGS:

• Friday, June 13 --- 5:15pm and 7:30pm
• Saturday, June 14 --- 5:15pm and 7:30pm
• Sunday, June 14 --- 2:30pm and 4:45pm

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.

Support Butte Environmental Council!

BEC is a grassroots non-profit dedicated to protecting the health of our environment. Our work is made possible by people like you! Your contribution helps us plant trees, clean the creeks, and bring environmental education into the classroom.

BEC is a membership supported organization, we invite all interested parties to become a member today.

Consider becoming a Sustaining Member today for as little as $5/month.