Skip to main content

Home/ BEC in the News/ Group items tagged removals

Rss Feed Group items tagged

Filter: All | Bookmarks | Topics Simple Middle
rdifalco

Butte County, PG&E emphasize need for communication with future tree removals - 0 views

www.chicoer.com/...tion-with-future-tree-removals

BEC tree Butte County Oroville chico

shared by rdifalco on 10 Mar 15 - No Cached
  • Flowers placed on a stump of a tree removed by PG&E at the Oroville Cemetery as part of the utility’s Pathways Pipeline Project. As the tree-removal work continues in Butte County, efforts are be made to avoid or ease the controversy that happened in Oroville.
  • Chico >> No one wants another Oroville tree fiasco.Butte County, PG&E and other stakeholders are working together to try to prevent another controversy surrounding tree removals planned to take place around Chico as part of the Pathways Pipeline Project. Final tree removal numbers and locations have not been established but both the county and PG&E pledge that communication is a critical factor.
  • “We are very hopeful we can have a collaborative process and the public can be very informed,” said Paul Hahn, Butte County’s chief administrative officer. “There will be no quick decisions and trees are not going to just start disappearing.”
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • The eventual removal of about 15 trees on Feather River Boulevard in front of the Oroville Cemetery was the subject of months of protests by citizens. The protest began in late November, with PG&E insisting the project was necessary for safety and access to its high-pressure gas-transmission line, and protesters arguing the trees were not a risk and strapping themselves to trees to protect them.
  • In all, 240 trees were removed in Oroville as part of the Pipeline Pathways Project. Tree removals in Paradise are next on the list for the Butte County area, although some trees in and near Chico have also been identified.
  • Conversations about planned tree removals have included Butte County supervisors, Sheriff Kory Honea and Public Works Director Mike Crump, as well as representatives from Butte Environmental Council, which is particularly concerned with the tree replacement plan.On Friday, BEC members met with PG&E and discussed 62 trees to be removed in the Comanche Creek greenway, including some sizeable oaks. PG&E agreed to follow Chico tree protection and mitigation guidelines, which could involve planting 150 trees to replace those to be removed, said BEC board member Mark Stemen.
  • “We stated in no uncertain terms that we are not issuing any permits for tree removal within the county until we have had a robust public process, including some of the neighbors’ involvement and the Board of Supervisors, possibly,” Hahn said.
  • “We will be open to listening. I think none of us want a repeat of what happened in Oroville.”
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.
rdifalco

On the chopping block - 0 views

www.newsreview.com/...content

BEC Chico trees Community PG&E

shared by rdifalco on 27 Oct 15 - No Cached
  • rdifalco on 27 Oct 15
     
    PG&E meets the public, offers to replace trees slated for removal along pipeline Last February, tree advocates' attempts to save several century-old sycamores from PG&E chainsaws ended in a tense, days-long standoff, police intervention and the eventual removal of the stately giants from where they stood outside of the Oroville Cemetery. It also caused a public relations nightmare for PG&E and its Pipeline Pathways project, the energy company's effort to remove trees, vegetation and structures along 6,750 miles of natural gas pipelines throughout the state for safety, maintenance and access purposes. With similar work planned to remove 33 trees from a mile-long swath in south Chico near Comanche Creek, PG&E is hoping to avoid troubles like those in Oroville, and sent a representative to the city's Bidwell Park and Playground Commission meeting on Monday (Aug. 31) to hear public comment and make an offer to mitigate the loss of the trees. BEC Executive Director Robyn DiFalco was the first person to speak during the public comment portion of the meeting. She lauded the power company for reaching out and offering to plant replacements, but also urged caution as the city moves forward.
rdifalco

PG&E proposes removal of 33 trees in Chico - 0 views

www.chicoer.com/...s-removal-of-33-trees-in-chico

BEC trees chico removal PG&E

shared by rdifalco on 02 Sep 15 - No Cached
  • Chico >> PG&E intends to remove 33 trees, all on private property, as a safety measure in south Chico, but questioning by the public and the Bidwell Park and Playground Commission shed light on the process and reasoning. At a Monday forum held at the Park Commission’s meeting, PG&E representatives explained why the removals were necessary
  • PG&E shared a list of about 86 trees that were near the pipeline, but after a tree-by-tree inspection including city staff, nearby residents and representatives of Butte Environmental Council, acknowledged that all but 33 trees could stay but be watched.
  • Robyn DiFalco of BEC asked the Park Commission to “... make sure that every tree removed is justified and asked for another meeting on PG&E’s replacement plan. Commissioners wanted to know about incidences of pipe leaks in Chico, but Wilson and other PG&E representatives there Monday did not have that information. They also wanted to know more about what the access actually meant, and could there be negotiations on the list of trees to be removed.
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • Attorney Richard Harriman of Chico said everything should be written into an agreement, and Emily Alma asked the Park Commission to advocate for the trees.
rdifalco

PG&E uses site tour to demonstrate need for pipeline tree removals - 0 views

www.chicoer.com/...eed-for-pipeline-tree-removals

BEC chico tree removals pipeline

shared by rdifalco on 23 Mar 15 - No Cached
  • Nestled underground, below a mix of trees and brush, lies a 10-inch natural gas pipeline, installed in 1954. Little has been done to maintain it in recent decades, but Pacific Gas & Electric is trying to remedy that with an aggressive plan to remove trees and vegetation around the line and others throughout the state, said spokesperson Shaun Maccoun.
  • “You look at this little valley oak right now and it doesn’t look like much, but it’s very ominous,” said Joey Perez, senior land consultant. “And it’s going to get bigger ... When I consider the safety risk, these trees were doomed from the start.”
  • Robyn Difalco, executive director of Butte Environmental Council, said being able to see the actual project gave her perspective and context, and she retains hope for saving some of the larger trees.
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • “It’s a really beautiful area with thriving oaks of all ages and I was left with a sense that this is a place that can continue to thrive, but it’s a shame for so many oaks to be affected,” she said. “I also felt that PG&E seems willing to work with the community and put together some decent plans to remediate and mitigate for the impact that their project will have.”
  • PG&E doubts most people will be affected by the removed vegetation and it will be replanting in other appropriate areas, with one or perhaps two new trees for every one removed, Perez said.
  • PG&E’s focus on the visual impact of the trees is not enough, DiFalco said. Carbon sequestration, habitat and other factors are also critical, especially in an area where oaks are naturally regenerating.“It’s not surprising that PG&E as a corporation doesn’t entirely recognize the full ecological value of these trees,” she said. “That is what concerns us.”
rdifalco

Oroville marks anniversary of tree removal from in front of cemetery - 0 views

www.chicoer.com/...160209804

BEC Oroville tree PG&E

shared by rdifalco on 08 Feb 16 - No Cached
  • 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.
rdifalco

Improperly executed Rite-Aid tree removal frustrates citizens - Chico Enterprise Record - 0 views

www.chicoer.com/...ee-removal-frustrates-citizens

BEC chico tree

shared by rdifalco on 23 Sep 14 - No Cached
  • CHICO >> Four liquid amber trees removed from the parking lot of the Rite-Aid on Mangrove Avenue must be replaced with new trees, and shouldn't have been removed without an approved replanting program, a city official said Tuesday
  • After some discussion about what trees were in the public right of way and private property, the city said the city's trees could not be and were not removed, but those on private property were.
  • Mark Stemen, a board member with the Butte Environmental Council, was happy to hear trees would be replanted but said they cannot make up for the established trees that were lost. "Once again this is the trouble you get when you don't have the urban forester position filled," he said. "Four individuals were massacred because of short staffing ... It's not just cops, cops, cops. We have holes in our city staff around the issue of the environment."
rdifalco

Tree removal, prevailing wage lead light council agenda - Chico Enterprise Record - 0 views

www.chicoer.com/...wage-lead-light-council-agenda

BEC chico tree removal council

shared by rdifalco on 05 Nov 14 - No Cached
  • One of the first items will be a public hearing for an appeal of the Bidwell Park and Playground's decision to approve the removal and replanting of 25 trees on Mission Ranch Boulevard and Holly Avenue. Butte Environmental Council is appealing the permit approval, which stemmed from a request by the Mission Santa Fe Community of Homeowners and its 47 encompassing households.
  • Butte Environmental Council is appealing on the basis that the project has undergone "inadequate environmental review because the cumulative effects on the urban forest have not been discussed."
rdifalco

Council upholds permit to remove 25 trees in Chico neighborhood - Chico Enterprise Record - 0 views

www.chicoer.com/...25-trees-in-Chico-neighborhood

BEC chico trees

shared by rdifalco on 05 Nov 14 - No Cached
  • CHICO >> Twenty-five trees are scheduled for removal, after the Chico City Council upheld a decision by the Bidwell Park & Playground Commission on Tuesday. Councilors voted 5-2 with Tami Ritter and Scott Gruendl dissenting to uphold the granting of a permit to remove 25 Yarwood sycamore trees and replace them with varieties that are better suited for the area. The Butte Environmental Council had appealed the permit approval, which stemmed from a request by the Mission Santa Fe Community of Homeowners and its 47 encompassing households.
  • Butte Environmental Council appealed on the basis that the project has undergone "inadequate environmental review because the cumulative effects on the urban forest have not been discussed." "If we compartmentalize tree discussions without first addressing overall impacts we are doing the community and the urban forest a disservice," Commissioner Mark Herrera told the council Tuesday.
dkeeley1

PG&E plans removal of 32 Midway trees - 1 views

www.orovillemr.com/...ans-removal-of-32-midway-trees

BEC chico trees removal pge Butte County Community

shared by dkeeley1 on 30 Mar 16 - No Cached
  • 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.
rdifalco

25 Chico trees approved for removal - Chico Enterprise Record - 0 views

www.chicoer.com/...5-chico-trees-approved-removal

BEC chico trees

shared by rdifalco on 01 Oct 14 - No Cached
  • Residents asked the city to remove 25 sycamores of different varieties, but considered a nuisance and safety hazard.
  • Commissioner Mark Herrera asked the commission to use this situation as a stand to call for an urban forester to be hired by the city. His motion called for no further discussion of tree-related items until an urban forester was on staff. It has been over a year since the city had an urban forester.
  • While Herrera's motion failed, it prompted the Park Commission's discussion about how important the urban forester is to the city, tree-related permits and what's happening to Chico's urban forest. To punctuate his stance, Herrera left the council chambers at that point. Before leaving, he apologized to the applying residents for delaying their matter, but stressed the urban forest's significance to the community.
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • The discussion also prompted Mark Stemen, chair of the city's Sustainability Task Force, to again criticize the Park Commission for failing to move forward on the Urban Forest Management Plan, which he said is basically done, but needs the commission's stamp of approval. He said this discussion might not have happened if the plan had been in place.
ndcarter

Butte County supervisors OK PG&E tree removal from Midway bike path - 0 views

www.orovillemr.com/...-removal-from-midway-bike-path

shared by ndcarter on 11 May 16 - No Cached
  • As part of the process, the utility has pledged to plant 64 new trees along the Midway roadway itself. These mostly native species of plants will build and enhance the Midway’s distinctive tree canopy, according to PG&E public affairs manager Joe Wilson.
  • The utility consulted with the county, the resource district and the Butte Environmental Council on its Midway plan.
ndcarter

Volunteers Beautify Bidwell Park by Removing Tons of Trash - 0 views

www.actionnewsnow.com/...g-Tons-of-Trash-493404601.html

shared by ndcarter on 17 Sep 18 - No Cached
  • 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.
ndcarter

City of Chico mistakenly removes 27 oak trees near nature center | KRCR - 0 views

krcrtv.com/...7-oak-trees-near-nature-center

shared by ndcarter on 12 Mar 19 - No Cached
  • 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.
ndcarter

Chico News & Review - Rush to cut - News - Local Stories - May 11, 2017 - 0 views

www.newsreview.com/...content

shared by ndcarter on 22 May 17 - No Cached
  • It turns out Withuhn was right to question the removal. Erik Gustafson, manager of the Chico’s Public Works Department, said city staff had been inundated with calls from concerned citizens after the two trees were cut, and confirmed no permit had been issued. City staff visited Enloe Medical Center the next morning—May 3—to deliver a cease and desist order to prevent further removals.
ndcarter

Downtown parade will go Saturday rain or shin - 0 views

www.chicoer.com/...160509798

BEC Endangered Species Faire Chico Community

shared by ndcarter on 10 May 16 - No Cached
  • Engangered Species Fair runs 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the group picnic area at One-Mile Recreation Area in lower Bidwell Park. The 37th annual event is put on by the Butte Environmental Council and is free.
  • The theme is “Back from the Brink” which celebrates the removal of three species from the endangered species list, including the gray wolf, bald eagle and maguire daisy. Highlights include an eco-scavenger hunt, free vegetable starts, a raffle and a puppet parade featuring papier mache puppets made by local elementary students.
rdifalco

Chico News & Review - Water fight - Feature Story - Local Stories - August 15, 2013 - 0 views

www.newsreview.com/...content

BEC water endangered species sacramento river BDCP Bay Delta

shared by rdifalco on 16 Aug 13 - No Cached
  • But in the northern half of the Central Valley, most people want the tunnels stopped. They say it will suck the Delta dry, destroy farming business in the Delta and the Sacramento Valley, devastate the river’s ecosystem and lead to overuse of groundwater supplies. “This is one of the rare times when farmers and environmentalists can agree that a project is going to be devastating for both their interests,” said Robyn DiFalco, executive director of the Butte Environmental Council. DiFalco notes that the tunnels will not only increase Southern California’s dependence on Northern California’s water, but “they will also make it easier for [Southern California] to get it.”
  • Many critics of the BDCP have described the tunnels as a means of transferring away the wealth of Northern California to powerful water agencies to the south, which will be paying for a great deal of their enormous cost.
  • John Merz, executive director of the Chico-based Sacramento River Preservation Trust, says he has little faith in the components of the BDCP intended to restore the Delta’s health. He recognizes that there will be legal limits to how much water the tunnels can remove from the river. “But we don’t think those limits will be enough to protect the river,” Merz said. He added, “Frankly, when it comes to restoring the health of the Sacramento River, we just don’t trust the Brown administration to do the right thing.”
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • Vlamis, of AquAlliance, echoed him. She said that calling the BDCP a “conservation plan” is deceptive. “The way this plan is crafted it will have no benefits for the Sacramento’s ecosystem,” she said.
  • Barbara Vlamis, the executive director of Chico-based water-watchdog group AquAlliance, says groundwater depletion in the northern Sacramento Valley is one of the major potential impacts of the BDCP that its proponents have failed to consider. AquAlliance is among a coalition of environmental, fishing and farming groups suing to stop the BDCP, which it charges violates the California Environmental Quality Act and the Delta Reform Act. She also believes that further development of the river’s water-export system—if carried out recklessly—could spur the extinction of the chinook salmon.
  • DiFalco, at the Butte Environmental Council, says the conscious choices of farmers in the San Joaquin Valley have brought troubles upon themselves and the rest of the state.
  • “They’re planting permanent crops, like fruit orchards, in a desert,” she said. “Annual crops would make sense. That way you can fallow the land—grow when you’re able to and let the land go fallow in dry years. But they’re being foolhardy. They’re setting themselves up to need more water every year, and we shouldn’t sympathize with them for consciously making these decisions. “We need to retire some of that land,” she said.
  • By some opinions, the BDCP and its tunnels are just a scheme of selling away Northern California’s wealth, and losing an ecosystem in the process.
rdifalco

Chico News & Review - Burning questions - News - Local Stories - September 12, 2013 - 0 views

www.newsreview.com/...content

BEC Oroville dioxin POPI

shared by rdifalco on 12 Sep 13 - No Cached
  • The controversial cogeneration plant in south Oroville that burned biofuel to produce electricity for 30 years before shutting down last October may have some suitors looking to fire up operations again. The Pacific Oroville Power Inc. plant (POPI) is owned by New Jersey-based Covanta Energy and for years was under scrutiny by the Butte County District Attorney’s Office for possible environmental violations. The DA is currently in negotiations with Covanta on the payment for final cleanup of the plant and removal of contaminated ash that was deposited in Butte and Glenn counties. In the meantime, Covanta has maintained its operating permits to keep the plant financially attractive to potential buyers.
  • One inquiry Ramsey was not aware of is from a local group that contacted the Butte Environmental Council, which has been tracking dioxin levels in chicken eggs and other sources located near the plant.
  • Robyn DiFalco, executive director of BEC, said the organization had first heard about this proposal a couple of weeks ago.
rdifalco

Chico News & Review - Another historic tree on the chopping block - The GreenHouse - Gr... - 0 views

www.newsreview.com/...content

BEC chico tree

shared by rdifalco on 15 Nov 13 - No Cached
  • Butte Environmental Council appealing anti-tree decision by Architectural Review & Historic Preservation Board
  • This article was published on 11.14.13.
  • Tearing down another beautiful historic tree CN&R photo contributor Karen Laslo first gave me the heads-up on this one, followed by Butte Environmental Council board president Mark Stemen. It seems that the very huge—what some would term “heritage”—valley oak tree that lives in the vacant lot on the corner of Salem and West Eighth streets is slated for removal so that a couple of single-story duplexes can be built there.
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • “We believe that the project has not had adequate review by the public to date,” wrote BEC Executive Director Robyn DiFalco in the appeal, before pointing out that the Oct. 30 meeting was scheduled outside of the normal ARHPB meeting schedule: the first and third Wednesdays of the month. “The approval in question was made at a special meeting of the ARHPB held to suit the schedule of the applicant,” wrote DiFalco.
1 - 20 of 28 Next ›
Showing 20▼ items per page