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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.

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.

Oroville >> People are wearing raincoats and watching water run down the gutter. However, the recent rains do not mean the end of California’s four-year drought.Butte County’s water resources scientist Christina Buck said the local rainfall is still only at about 89 percent of average for this time of year. That’s based on rain through last week and beginning Oct. 1, which is the start of the “water year.”

Carol Perkins, a water advocate for Butte Environmental Council, told the members of the Water Commission that she hopes when those groundwater jurisdictions are established, they will consider watersheds, rather than existing water use boundaries. Some examples of watersheds are Butte Creek, Big Chico Creek and the Feather River, she said. “This might give groundwater dependent farmers a more prominent voice in this process,” Perkins said.“As it stands right now, our only voice is the county for those areas.”

Oroville >> Marking the one-year anniversary of the removal of trees from in front of Oroville Cemetery, community members lamented the loss of the elder trees but celebrated coming together.Pastor Kevin Thompson told the group of 65 people that had gathered on the Feather River Boulevard sidewalk that the trees didn’t have to come down.“When you look at the before and after photos, our hearts truly break at what took place,” Thompson said.The last of 13 elder sycamore and elm trees were removed on Feb. 5, 2015, ending more than two months of protests against the removal led by the community group Save Oroville Trees. Efforts included protests, occupying the site and seeking relief from court, but PG&E ultimately prevailed.

Robyn DiFalco, the outgoing executive director of the Butte Environmental Council, said she was proud that Oroville residents mobilized in the face of the tree removal. She said their actions led to few trees being removed in Chico and along the Midway north of Durham and PG&E agreed to help pay to maintain replacement trees.

The activist group Move the Junkyard was formed in January 2015, shortly after the City Council directed planning department staff to develop a process for CSM to stay in south Chico. The group is allied with the Butte Environmental Council, which has long supported the Chapman/Mulberry Neighborhood Plan and CSM’s amortization.

During an interview several days prior to the Planning Commission’s meeting, Move the Junkyard member Ory and Mark Stemen, chairman of BEC’s board of directors, were certain the commission would reject CSM’s new development agreement. “I think CSM has done a very effective job playing on heartstrings and emotional issues that affect [city] councils, but I think they’ll come up against the Planning Commission and see that’s not what it’s about,” Stemen said.

aying on heartstrings and emotional issues that affect [city] councils, but I think they’ll come up against the Planning Commission and see that’s not what it’s about,” Stemen said

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.”

In spots around Butte County, particularly in south Chico and south Oroville, ecological hazards threaten health and safety. Some residents know; some don’t. Polluters tend not to advertise when they’re breaking the law, and residual toxins from decades past represent some of the biggest risks.

According to Robyn DiFalco, executive director of the Butte Environmental Council, “a clean and healthy environment versus dirty, unhealthy, polluted environments really have a lot connected with geography.” Wealthy neighborhoods don’t have to deal with these problems because residents there tend to “squawk very loud if dirty industrial sites were in their backyard—and they would prevent them from going in, and choose not to live near those sites.” Lower-income individuals don’t always “have those opportunities to speak out and prevent those sites from going in,” she continued, and neighborhoods with less expensive housing often are located “near these sites that are visually less attractive and have these health problems that their families may be affected by. “So, to be able to see a geographic dispersion of contamination sites, environmental and public health issues, is very telling,” DiFalco continued. “That’s why it’s so important to give visibility to that—that’s why it’s so important to have the EJSCREEN tool and the one that California does … otherwise, a lot of these communities are out of sight, out of mind.”

Mark Stemen of Butte Environmental Council said his group is “very pleased” with the plan, and has been working for about the last year and a half on Chico tree issues. BEC also worked with PG&E on the replacement of trees north of Hegan Lane near the pipeline.

Smith said PG&E has been working more carefully with communities over tree removals, noting a change in its approach.

The Resource Conservation District of Tehama County and Butte Environmental Council will host a Rainwater Catchment System workshop Saturday.

The Butte Environmental Council’s 43rd Anniversary Gala was held in the ARC Pavillion Saturday. Within a hour of the event starting, the room was filled and the sounds of soulful alternative folk, thanks to the band Sunday Iris, welcomed members to their tables.

Putting environmentalists and residential well-users on equal footing with farmers, the Butte County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday (June 26) supporting the Butte Environmental Council’s involvement in groundwater management.

The event, hosted by the Butte Environmental Council (BEC), invited people from every walk of life, young and old, families and students, long time community members and those just passing through, to show love for the park by collecting and disposing of all the litter they could get their little hands on.

They gathered at two locations, Hooker Oak Park and the Annie K. Bidwell Parlor. From there they were sent to creeks throughout the city and picked up the trash they saw.

In north Chico (3163 Esplanade) is the Asylum of the Dead, where the crazed Charlie killed his folks and conducted his human experiments, and now the house’s old barn is home to the abominations he created as well as various tortured spirits. The Barbee family runs the attraction as a fundraiser for local charities (suggested donations: $3 for kids, $5 adults) and opens it to the public for the entire month, Fridays and Saturdays, plus Halloween, 7-10 p.m. This year’s recipients are Butte Environmental Council and the Hamilton City Fire Department.

Robin McCollum with Chico Tree Advocates said the area is a preserve of nature that was provided by Annie Bidwel nearly 100 years ago. "I'm very concerned about the park and nature," he said. "If this type of supervision is going to be the norm here then we're going to have a lot of destruction done to the park," McCollum said.

The Butte Environmental Council organized a brunch in honor of Earth Day in Chico and all the proceeds helped an organization, aimed at educating people about endangered species.

The Butte Environmental Council’s 39th annual Endangered Species Faire is 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at Cedar Grove in Bidwell Park. The event’s theme is “Finned Migrations: Connecting Warming Oceans to Inland Streams.”

Butte County is working with other water leaders in the county toward the state-mandated Sustainable Groundwater Management planning effort, http://www.water.ca.gov/groundwater/sgm. This involves agencies that manage water creating plans that maintain water supply and water quality.

So far, several water agencies that provide surface water within the county have attended meetings, with a goal of identifying who will govern which areas of the groundwater basins. Mapping out jurisdictions needs to be finished by June of next year.

What will happen with private pumpers in Butte County is still up for discussion. At a recent GSA meeting, Carol Perkins from the Butte Environmental Council, told the Enterprise-Record that her groups hoped private pumpers would be given an active role.

Hundreds of hands gathered tons of trash Saturday in Chico’s prized parks and along Lindo Channel, Little Chico Creek and Comanche Creek. The 29th annual cleanup is organized by the Butte Environmental Council, www.becnet.org

During the events, big containers are provided to help haul all the items away, BEC assistant director Becky Holden explained while standing near a row of blue recycling containers, each with a different label of what should go inside.