March 2026

This Month's Issue:

47th Annual Endangered Species Faire

Schedule RARE for Earth Month

Next Generation Water Stewards Program Update

Trees PLEASE Upcoming Events

Oak Way Community Garden Plant Bazaar

Tax Season is Giving Season

Community Groundwater Forums

Nature Walks in Lower Park

California Tree School - Butte County

2026 Endangered Species Faire

Northern California’s longest-running environmental faire is back! The 47th Annual Endangered Species Faire (ESF) brings together more than 1,000 attendees and over 30 organizations for a day of hands-on learning, community connection, and environmental celebration.

Location: Cedar Grove Meadow - Middle Bidwell Park, Chico, CA

Time: 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM

This beloved event offers interactive educational experiences for families, students, and environmental advocates of all ages. A highlight of the day is the lively Procession of the Species Foot Parade through Downtown Chico, where hundreds of children and community members showcase handmade paper mâché animals, plants, ecosystems, and invertebrates—celebrating and advocating for species that cannot speak for themselves.

Get Involved

Become a Sponsor

• Show your commitment to protecting endangered species and supporting local environmental education. Sponsorship offers meaningful community visibility and connection with an engaged audience that values conservation and environmental stewardship.
• Sponsors at $250 or more receive a free booth space at the event!

Host a Booth

• Local schools, government agencies, nonprofits, and businesses are invited to apply for booth space. Share your mission, engage families, and inspire action through hands-on activities.

Walk in the Parade

• Join the Procession of the Species and help bring biodiversity to life in a creative, joyful display of advocacy.

Earth Month is Around the Corner

The month of April is Earth Month - it’s a chance to celebrate taking care of our planet. And a great way to celebrate Earth Month with your students is to book Recycling and Rubbish Education (RARE) workshops! BEC offers FREE recycling and composting workshops, as well as landfill field trips, for K-12 students in Butte County. 

Workshops consist of a 45-minute in-class presentation followed by a 15-minute activity. For recycling workshops, students play a game called the Recycling Relay Race, where they get a chance to practice sorting rubbish. For composting workshops, students build their own mini worm bin for the classroom and have a chance to hold a worm. Both workshops and the landfill field trip teach about the 4 R’s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Rot. These presentations will complement an Earth Month learning experience for your classroom! Book your RARE workshop here.

Next Generation Water Stewards Update

Last month was a busy one for the BEC team as we prepared for our Next Generation Water Stewards program. BEC partnered with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) to bring Steelhead trout eggs into classrooms as part of the Classroom Aquatic Education Program (CAEP). Our team worked hard to ensure all equipment was ordered on time, carefully organized, and fully prepared before being delivered and set up in classrooms. With everything in place, we successfully delivered hundreds of Steelhead trout eggs to eight classrooms across Chapman and Thermalito schools. It was no small task, but thanks to careful planning and teamwork, everything came together seamlessly!

Currently, students are raising trout from the egg to fry stage using aquariums that carefully mimic their nest in their natural environment.

Once the trout enter the fry stage, students will be releasing them into the Feather River. During the fry release field trips, students will gain a holistic view of stewardship, participating in water quality testing and other educational stations. In addition, students will participate in riparian restoration alongside local community partners such as Chico Area Flyfishers, The Stream Team, and Friends of Butte Creek.

Chapman and Thermalito schools were strategically chosen for the Next Generation Water Stewards grant with the goal to be given the opportunity to explore career opportunities and connect with the environment in ways they may not otherwise have access to.

Trees PLEASE!

Last month, the BEC team met with several schools in Oroville, and we’re thrilled to share some exciting news, tree planting dates are officially set… EEK!

This spring, we’ll be getting trees in the ground at four Oroville schools and one Paradise school, bringing more shade, beauty, and environmental benefits to local campuses. We can’t wait to see these spaces grow and thrive.

Stay tuned for planting day updates, it’s going to be an exciting season.

Tax Season is Giving Season

As we go through the sometimes-painful process of preparing our tax returns for submission to the IRS and Franchise Tax Board (California State taxes), it can lead to an impulse to close our pocketbooks. But tax time is CHARITABLE GIVING time!  

This is especially true if you itemize deductions. Contributions to legitimate charitable organizations like the Butte Environmental Council, form part of these deductible expenses. Even if you don’t itemize, please consider contributing to BEC.  

Maybe you are in a position where you have to make Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) from your IRA account. RMDs from standard IRAs are taxable as income, adding to your tax bill. BUT – did you know that you can direct your RMDs to a charitable organization like BEC and avoid paying taxes on these funds? Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs) of up to $111,000 (BEC would love $111,000 from you!) are tax exempt charitable contributions.

Please join Groundwater for Butte for two upcoming public education forums on groundwater.

Event Dates

• Thursday, March 12th from 6-8 at the Chico Masonic Center
• Thursday, March 26th from 6-8pm at the Chico Masonic Center

These free forums will provide the community with clear, factual information about our local groundwater. Attendees will learn about the current status and long-term sustainability of our groundwater resources and find out what it means for our community.

This is also an opportunity to get involved, so your input can help shape and refine local groundwater planning, projects, and policies.

Come learn, ask questions, and be part of the conversation about our water future.

Sponsored by: The Friends of Butte Creek and Butte Environmental Council.

Join EnviroVoters and BEC for free coffee and a relaxed walk into Lower Bidwell Park! 

We'll meet at the 1-Mile Sycamore Pool parking lot (off Vallombrosa Way) at 10 AM on:

• March 29th
• April 5th

This is a welcoming, low-pressure space to connect, enjoy some fresh air, and have thoughtful conversations about our community and environment — or come for a nice walk and good company.

California Tree School is hosting an event at Paradise High School on April 18th with our friends at the Butte Fire Safe Council. Here is a brief description of the event:

Participants take 4 classes of their choice on topics like forest inventory, fire ecology, native plants, biomass utilization, and more. With over 20 local and regional professional presenters, the day has so much to offer.

Classes available include:

• Getting to Know your Forest with Plant ID
• Using Beneficial Fire
• Reconnecting with Nature after Fire
• DIY Mass Timber Panels Workshop
• Forest Stewardship with Beneficial Grazing
• Frequent Fire Dependent Ecology - Forest Human Fire Symbiosis
• Forest Pathology
• Reforestation at a Glance
• Thinking Like a Forester: Field Observation Skills
• And much more

Registration fee: $70, need-based scholarships available by request.

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.