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rdifalco

Invasive weed plagues Little Chico Creek channel, causes fire danger - Chico Enterprise... - 0 views

www.chicoer.com/...tle-chico-creek-channel-causes

BEC chico water weed creek fire arundo

shared by rdifalco on 06 Oct 14 - No Cached
  • It towers to the treetops, collapsing onto itself to create grassy caves. Dense and aggressive, it chokes out vegetation and clogs the waterways. Arundo donax has plagued parts of Chico for years but its established concentration in Little Chico Creek has reached a crisis point, critics say. Now, the city is partnering with the state Department of Water Resources and the geography department at Chico State University to do something about it, although tackling the invasive weed to the point of eradication will take years.
  • The reasoning for its eradication is both environmental and also because of its immense fire danger. Walking through a stretch of Little Chico Creek this week, Chico State professor Mark Stemen ducked under the thick canopy and used caution as he walked on slick carpets of the snapped-off reed.
  • He noted where homeless people have made sleeping spaces under Arundo canopies. Fire pits stand out charred and black in the middle of the caves.
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • Councilor Randall Stone is also advocating for action and requesting the council take up the matter Tuesday.
  • Susan Mason with the California Native Plant Society said it was never as bad in those locations as now in Little Chico Creek.
  • On Saturday, Stemen and a group of students mapped 45 different locations, ranging from a single plant to a solid bank the length of a football field. In total, they identified 2,702 feet of stream infestation in Little Chico Creek.
  • The city also hopes to address Arundo on its own parcels, making them models and educating plants on other landowners' property, perhaps with the help of Butte Environmental Council.
rdifalco

Field trips to explore Big Chico Creek - 0 views

www.chicoer.com/...ips-to-explore-big-chico-creek

BEC Big Chico Creek sacramento river water watershed

shared by rdifalco on 13 Apr 15 - No Cached
  • Butte Environmental Council will host a scientific exploration of Big Chico Creek in a series of three field trips. The first outing will take place at the mouth of Big Chico Creek Sunday. Lucas Ross Merz of Sacramento River Preservation Trust and Jennifer Patten of Altacal Audubon Society will be the featured scientists.During the outings in April, May, and June participants will experience an upstream migration along Big Chico Creek; beginning at the confluence with the Sacramento River, through the valley and urban section, and ending with a hike to the forested spring headwaters. Each event will focus on the scientific wonders from two fields of study to deepen understanding and appreciation of the creek.The is a free event, however space is limited and participants need to register at www.becnet.org or call 891-6424.
rdifalco

Bidwell Park and Chico Creeks Cleanup coming Saturday - Chico Enterprise Record - 0 views

www.chicoer.com/...creeks-cleanup-coming-saturday

BEC chico

shared by rdifalco on 19 Sep 13 - No Cached
  • The Butte Environmental Council and the city of Chico are partnering once again for the annual Bidwell Park and Chico Creeks Cleanup from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday. Last year, more than 350 volunteers helped collect several tons of garbage and recyclables from the park and creeks. Since 1995, BEC volunteers have pulled seven tons of recyclables, 14 tons of scrap metal and 77 tons of garbage from the parks and creeks. Volunteers are encouraged to wear long pants and sturdy closed-toe shoes. Bring gloves and a water bottle, and meet at the Hooker Oak Recreation Area parking lot for the park cleanup and at Park Avenue and 11th Street for the creeks cleanup. BEC will provide water and treat all volunteers to a free barbecue and raffle prizes afterward. For more information, contact Maggi Barry at maggib@becnet.org or call 891-6424.
rdifalco

Row on the creek - 0 views

www.newsreview.com/...content

BEC Chico Glenn County Butte County water Stony Creek creeks waste recycling landfill toxics

shared by rdifalco on 28 Jan 16 - No Cached
  • rdifalco on 28 Jan 16
     
    Critics blast environmental review of proposed waste conversion facility along Glenn County waterway The watchdogs at Butte Environmental Council usually keep guard close to home, but occasionally they'll look beyond Chico's backyard. "Environmental issues don't stop at the county line," said Executive Director Robyn DiFalco. "We tend to look beyond our borders at least a little bit to see if our community will be affected." She believes that's the case with the proposed Glenn County Solid Waste Conversion Facility about 3 miles west of Hamilton City, which would sort and recycle up to 200 tons of material a day and convert biodegradable substances into biogas. According to the project's Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR), the goal is to divert and recycle up to 70 percent of the county's municipal solid waste from the landfill. And that's been a problem; the county's landfill near Artois has been pushing capacity for years and is set to close in December. What's caught BEC's attention? It's mostly a matter of location. The facility would be constructed along the northern bank of Stony Creek, which feeds into the Sacramento River and the Tuscan Aquifer, the vast underground reservoir that provides drinking water for residents in Glenn County and nearby communities-including Chico.
ndcarter

Chico News & Review - Compassion above all else - Editorial - Opinions - March 29, 2018 - 0 views

www.newsreview.com/...content

BEC water cleanup chico news Community

shared by ndcarter on 05 Apr 18 - No Cached
  • Butte Environmental Council, which for decades has organized events to beautify our parks and waterways. During a cleanup in 2008, as the CN&R reported, BEC volunteers collected a whopping 10.5 tons of trash in five hours.
  • ndcarter on 05 Apr 18
     
    Butte Environmental Council (BEC) is a community organization committed to protecting and defending environmental quality throughout Butte County. By regularly removing trash and recyclables that have found their way in to our urban creeks, parks and greenways BEC is helping to keep local water clean and safe, improving wildlife habitat and reducing human impacts on our environmental quality. Chico's urban waterways are heavily impacted by litter, illegal dumping, and creekside camping. BEC is committed to treating all members of our community with dignity and respect. We often remove materials left behind by those living along our creeks. Our non-confrontation policy asks our volunteers to avoid any interactions with those in the cleanup area besides inviting them to join us. In partnership with local law enforcement, we provide notice to camps in an effort to allow time for personal property to be removed. Usable items that are removed from our cleanup efforts are repurposed whenever possible to minimize what we send to the landfill. Our community cleanups have two goals: remove waste from our creeks, and build a community committed to healthy waterways.
becnews

See Lower Feather River salmon run - 1 views

www.redbluffdailynews.com/...lower-feather-river-salmon-run

BEC Chico Butte County water Community Citizen Science Series Lower Feather River salmon

shared by becnews on 29 Oct 15 - No Cached
  • Chico >> Butte Environmental Council will kick off its three-part Citizen Science Series Saturday with an On-Water Citizen Science Adventure. The council’s Watershed Program is partnering with the Forebay Aquatic Center and Outdoor Education for All to give a tour of the fall-run Chinook salmon in the Lower Feather River Watershed.
  • Last spring the Citizen Science Series highlighted the Big Chico Creek from the confluence of the Sacramento River to the forested spring headwaters. This fall series will feature other watersheds of Butte County, including an upcoming tour of Butte Creek Canyon.
  • The council’s Watershed Program seeks to protect and enhance the ecological integrity of watersheds throughout Butte County. The council is working on projects in the Big Chico Creek, Little Chico Creek, Butte Creek and Feather River Watersheds to foster watershed education, restore habitat, and advocate for responsible water management.
rdifalco

City of Chico, Butte Environmental Council to partner on weed eradication grant - 1 views

www.orovillemr.com/...tner-on-weed-eradication-grant

BEC chico city council arundo Little Chico Creek watershed

shared by rdifalco on 22 Jan 15 - No Cached
  • Butte Environmental Council representative Mark Stemen shows areas of invasive Arundo donax growth along Little Chico Creek near Humboldt Park in October. Stemen, along with other citizens and city officials, are championing a plan for removal because of major fire danger risk and environmental damage.
  • Chico >> The city of Chico is rallying with Butte Environmental Council to eradicate an invasive weed clogging Little Chico Creek.On Tuesday, the Chico City Council will be asked to approve a joint application for a $1 million Urban Streams Restoration grant to eradicate arundo donax in the creek.
  • “We believe that when the city has to take a step back, the community can take a step forward,” said Mark Stemen of Butte Environmental Council, which will help spearhead the eradication effort. “We pointed out the problem. We also wanted to be part of the solution.”A class of his students at Chico State University mapped Little Chico Creek last fall, noting every location of arundo, invasive species and habitat that will need to be preserved.
rdifalco

'Block party' cleanup of Little Chico Creek set for Saturday morning - 0 views

www.chicoer.com/...creek-set-for-saturday-morning

BEC chico water cleanup creek

shared by rdifalco on 06 Mar 15 - No Cached
  • A clean-up of Little Chico Creek from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday is being touted as a “block party with a purpose.”After gathering near the windchime sculpture at the park on Humboldt Avenue near Willow Street, volunteers and community members will remove garbage from the creek and park, according to an event flier. Invasive weeds will also be cleared.Volunteers are asked to wear closed-toe shoes, long pants and long-sleeve shirts and to bring gloves and a reusable water bottle, if available. Organizers will provide tools, waste bins and water. They will also provide lunch and lemonade to volunteers. The event is sponsored by the city of Chico, Butte Environmental Council, Waste Management and the Mount Lassen Chapter of the California Native Plant Society.
rdifalco

Chico News & Review - Editors' picks 2014 - Feature Story - Local Stories - October 16,... - 0 views

www.newsreview.com/...content

BEC chico water Bidwell Park creeks trash recycling volunteers

shared by rdifalco on 23 Oct 14 - No Cached
  • Best cleansing of the creeks BEC’s Big Chico Creek Cleanup The sheer amount of garbage pulled out of Chico’s waterways during the cleanup on Sept. 20 was mind-boggling (nearly 20 tons!), and we’re thankful an organization like the Butte Environmental Council was around to organize it. We’re also thankful that so many community members (nearly 450!) volunteered to help the cause. The effort has never been more important, because our creeks were more littered with trash than ever before. (This year’s haul almost doubled the previous record.) And trash littering the banks of our creeks is more than gross and unattractive; our refuse floats downstream, harming aquatic habitats in the Sacramento River and eventually the Pacific Ocean. So, cheers to BEC and the volunteers who diverted that stuff to the landfill. The community and its waterways are much better for it.
dnbaxter

Bottles, Syringes, and Mattresses Found During Annual Creek Cleanup - 0 views

krcrtv.com/...nd-during-annual-creek-cleanup

BEC Chico Butte County Community Creek Clean-up Volunteers Environmentalism

shared by dnbaxter on 30 Sep 19 - No Cached
  • dnbaxter on 30 Sep 19
     
    The 32nd annual Bidwell Park and Chico Creek cleanup attracted close to 500 volunteers with tons of trash, literally, removed from Bidwell Park and local creeks, according to BEC.
rdifalco

Chico News & Review - Constant cleanup - Feature Story - Local Stories - April 17, 2014 - 0 views

www.newsreview.com/...content

BEC chico cleanup water parks creeks

shared by rdifalco on 17 Apr 14 - No Cached
  • The byproducts of homeless encampments—mattresses, tents, sleeping bags, food packaging, empty bottles, clothing and human waste—are increasingly common along Chico’s creeks, and the mess is more than unsightly. Many items at these makeshift homes have the potential to pollute the local waterways and habitats downstream.
  • Members of volunteer cleanup crews, park officials and environmental advocates agree that the problem is worse than ever. They also acknowledge that, in light of the city’s ongoing financial difficulties, the ability to clean up the camps in a timely manner has diminished significantly.
  • Robyn DiFalco, executive director of the Butte Environmental Council, said that in the months leading up to the Bidwell Park and Chico Creeks Cleanup last September, there was a dramatic increase in homeless encampments throughout Chico, and despite a lower than expected volunteer turnout, the cleanup removed about twice as much trash from the creeks as the year before.
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • “Things reached a level that no one could remember,” she said. “It was worse than it had ever been. We saw so many more mattresses, so many more tires, so many of those big, bulky items.”
  • Mark Gailey, a Chicoan who has volunteered for BEC’s cleanup efforts for nearly 25 years, said in an email that the amount of trash in Chico’s waterways “has seemed to grow exponentially—especially in the last few years. The vast majority of this trash … appears to be from abandoned homeless and transient encampments.”
  • Volunteers also described certain areas with such high concentrations of fecal matter and urine that “they required a hazmat cleanup,” DiFalco said. “When humans use our waterways as a bathroom, it has an impact on water quality; it has an effect on aquatic wildlife as well as terrestrial and amphibian wildlife.”
  • Since last fall’s cleanup, DiFalco said, she has been encouraged by ongoing discussions between city and county organizations about how to stay on top of the issue. Some locals, including a group of neighbors along Lindo Channel, have organized cleanup efforts of their own, while student volunteers from Chico State and Butte College have also proved helpful.
  • “You’re never going to solve it, but you do need to keep responding to it so it doesn’t get out of control,” she said. “The city shouldn’t be expected to do it on their own, nor should volunteers or nonprofits.”
  • rdifalco on 17 Apr 14
     
    The community's efforts to keep waterways unpolluted is more important than ever
rdifalco

Letter: Volunteers help clean up Chico's creeks - 0 views

www.chicoer.com/...rs-help-clean-up-chicos-creeks

BEC Chico Community creeks cleanup Lindo Channel

shared by rdifalco on 27 Oct 15 - No Cached
  • The 25th annual California Coastal Cleanup Day is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 19, from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.Even though Chico doesn’t have any “coasts” per se, we do have a number of waterways traversing our city (albeit several of them are currently bone dry due to the severe California drought).Chico’s contribution to the Coastal Cleanup effort is the annual Butte Environmental Council Chico Bidwell Park and Chico Creeks Cleanup. During last year’s event, we pulled 20 to 30 tons of trash and debris from Chico waterways.
  • We thank a large number of local community-minded Chico businesses and organizations for their help in co-sponsoring this event. (See becnet.org for the names of these awesome co-sponsors.)— Mark Gailey, Chico
ndcarter

31st Annual Bidwell Park & Chico Creeks Cleanup | Growing Up Chico Magazine - 0 views

growingupchico.com/well-park-chico-creeks-cleanup

shared by ndcarter on 24 Aug 18 - No Cached
  • Saturday morning, September 15th as the sun comes up, hundreds of community volunteers will gather in the parking lots of Hooker Oak Park and the Annie K Bidwell Parlor. Check-in stations and empty dumpsters will be waiting for volunteers to participate in the largest round up of trash and recyclables in Chico. In small groups, formed in advance or on the spot, volunteers will be supplied with trash bags, pickers, buckets, and coffee before they are sent out to clean every creek in Chico- in just over 3 hours! Hosted by Butte Environmental Council since 1988, this year will be the 31st annual Bidwell Park and Chico Creeks Cleanup.
ndcarter

30th Annual Bidwell Park and Creeks clean up in Chico - KRCR - 0 views

www.krcrtv.com/...621758911

shared by ndcarter on 04 Oct 17 - No Cached
  • Each year the Butte Environmental Council teams up with the city of Chico and county to collect trash in the city's creeks and parks.
  • "This year we have received a huge amount of support not only from our community but the businesses, "said Butte Environmental Watershed Coordinator, Angel Gomez, "We have received more sponsorships this year than we have in years past. People are really starting to take ownership of the creeks in Chico." 
becwatershed

Volunteers take part in chilly, post-New Year's cleanup of Big Chico Creek - 2 views

www.chicoer.com/...ars-cleanup-of-big-chico-creek

BEC chico water Community Butte County cleanup

shared by becwatershed on 04 Feb 16 - No Cached
  • becwatershed on 04 Feb 16
     
    Chico >> Cold morning temperatures and the calendar failed to deter a handful of volunteers who pitched in for a creek cleanup Saturday. While the last month's first monthly "Block Party With a Purpose" drew about 40 people and collected 4,300 pounds of refuse from Lindo Channel, organizers anticipated fewer people for the event just two days into the new year.
becnews

City of Chico, Butte Environmental Council to partner on weed eradication grant - 0 views

www.chicoer.com/...tner-on-weed-eradication-grant

BEC Chico weed eradication grant Butte County Little Chico Creek

shared by becnews on 29 Oct 15 - No Cached
  • Chico >> The city of Chico is rallying with Butte Environmental Council to eradicate an invasive weed clogging Little Chico Creek.
  • On Tuesday, the Chico City Council will be asked to approve a joint application for a $1 million Urban Streams Restoration grant to eradicate arundo donax in the creek.
  • The city will subcontract the restoration work to a local riparian restoration firm, and engage the California Native Plant Society for its expertise and volunteer labor. The Butte Environmental Council will coordinate community outreach and education, and Chico’s Stream Team will provide citizen water quality monitoring.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • “We believe that when the city has to take a step back, the community can take a step forward,” said Mark Stemen of Butte Environmental Council, which will help spearhead the eradication effort. “We pointed out the problem. We also wanted to be part of the solution.”
  • While it will certainly be a competitive grant, the involved parties are cautiously optimistic they could receive it, Stemen said. Recipients will be announced in March.
becnews

Chico News & Review - Creekside crackdown - News - Local Stories - September 10, 2015 - 0 views

www.newsreview.com/...content

BEC Chico Butte County Community Chico Creeks Cleanup

shared by becnews on 29 Oct 15 - No Cached
  • Cynthia Gailey identifies herself first and foremost as an environmentalist, and she’s fully aware that homeless encampments have contributed heavily to the trashing of Chico’s waterways. The degradation, she says, is appalling.
  • Still, it’s not as if the camps’ inhabitants have access to household comforts such as toilets, showers, laundry machines or garbage pick-up, Gailey says. As the coordinator for Safe Space, the seasonal, cold-weather homeless shelter hosted at rotating locations, she argues that the solution is providing unsheltered people with adequate facilities and services, not creating new laws that only “further criminalize homelessness.”
  • The environmental impacts are serious. Last year, Butte Environmental Council’s annual Bidwell Park & Chico Creeks Cleanup—which aims to remove litter from the waterways before rain washes it downstream—pulled an estimated 30 tons of garbage from the creeks. It was a record amount of trash, far surpassing the previous high of 23,000 pounds in 2002. (BEC has tracked the trash haul since 1987.)
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • This year is shaping up about the same, based on accounts of volunteers who have worked in the waterways ahead of the cleanup, which is taking place on Saturday (Sept. 19), said BEC Executive Director Robyn DiFalco. “We’re hearing the conditions are really similar to last year,” she said. “We’re expecting to collect just as much material so long as the same number of volunteers come out again.” The volunteers pick up plenty of “typical everyday litter,” DiFalco said, but the vast majority of trash, by both weight and volume, comes from homeless encampments. However, she doesn’t want people blaming homeless people alone for the waste in the waterways. “This is all part of the bigger situation in our community and society,” she said. “Our role at BEC is to facilitate the community having a positive impact and getting out there for the cleanup.”
ndcarter

Interview With Natalie Carter: Upcoming Rain Poses Risk To Juvenile Salmon In Butte Cre... - 0 views

www.mynspr.org/...sk-juvenile-salmon-butte-creek

shared by ndcarter on 26 Nov 18 - No Cached
  • Interview With Natalie Carter: Upcoming Rain Poses Risk To Juvenile Salmon In Butte Creek
ndcarter

Environmental coalitions push stricter limits on plastic bag ban | Action News Now - 0 views

www.actionnewsnow.com/...imits-on-plastic-bag-ban-95697

shared by ndcarter on 08 Nov 16 - No Cached
  • Prop 67, the measure that would ensure a ban in every city and require stores to charge 10 cents for paper bags. The Butte Environmental Council Executive Director says we still have a lot of work to do. "In the United States, we use more than a billion plastic bags a year and less than one percent of them are recycled,” said Natalie Carter. “The rest of them end up in landfills and take more than a thousand years to degrade."
  • City Councilmember Randall Stone says our county needs to protect our numerous creeks, streams and rivers. "We have plastic bags going into those creeks and streams it requires us to clean that space up that costs a tremendous amount of money for the city of Chico in volunteer time as well as staff and waste time,” he said.
ndcarter

Autumn Watersheds event planned Sunday in Chico - 0 views

www.redbluffdailynews.com/...-event-planned-sunday-in-chico

shared by ndcarter on 09 Dec 16 - No Cached
  • Get ready to throw on your hiking boots, load up your family and head to the Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve because Butte Environmental Council is teaming up with CSU Chico Ecological Reserves to host a spectacular event called Autumn Watersheds 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, at the Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve off State Route 32.
  • Events will be led by CSU Geology alum Anna Nattress; Land Steward Ryan Edwards; Executive Director of Butte Environmental Council Natalie Carter; Director Emeritus of the CSUC Ecological Reserves Paul Maslin and Education Coordinator for the CSUC Ecological Reserves Jon Aull.
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