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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.

Katie Beeson, Butte Environmental Council business manager, said the nonprofit is creating a craft project with recycled materials at its office downtown all day in recognition of the movement.

“As Giving Tuesday becomes more popular,” said Beeson, “we’re hoping that Chico can really become a place on the map for local giving back.”

Carter, executive director of the Butte Environmental Council, and Cecil, executive director of the Butte County Farm Bureau, had asked the commission to allow their respective constituents a greater voice in governing local water resources.

BEC took the lead in a coalition of 15 groups and individuals seeking a water advisory committee representing environmentalists and private pumpers.

“I think we’re coming closer to having common ground on this issue and coming together as a county to defend groundwater users that aren’t represented by [an agency] and also those environmental concerns, those beneficial uses of our water in our county,” Carter said after the meeting.

Saturday's Block Party will start at the bridge over Lindo Channel at the corner of East 5th and East Lindo Avenues. It will continue west to the Highway 99 Bridge. Coffee will be provided by Beatniks and sandwiches will be provided by the Beach Hut Deli.

The Block Parties with a Purpose will be h eld on the second Saturday of each month, ending the season on May 13th, 2017.

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.

In January, dogged tree activist Charles Withuhn continued his effort to replenish the urban forest by offering free trees to the public through his organization, Chico Tree Advocates. “What makes me grateful to live here is not the bushes. It’s these towering giants that have been here since Annie Bidwell, and they’re not being replaced,” he told CN&R.

On March 1, Natalie Carter stepped down from her post as general manager at the Chico Certified Farmers’ Market to take the reins as executive director of Butte Environmental Council.

In the June primary, Butte County voters showed their overwhelming support for banning hydraulic fracturing locally: Measure E, sponsored by local group Frack-Free Butte County, won by 71.5 percent of the vote.

In Chico, that means Goldstein is working with nonprofits like Butte Environmental Council and GRID Alternatives as well as city staff and the Sustainability Task Force to implement the city’s Climate Action Plan. That plan calls for a 25 percent reduction in greenhouse gases over 2005 levels by the year 2020.

“BEC is a great example of a nonprofit making a real difference in their community,” said Perla Ni, CEO of GreatNonprofits, in a press release.

“We are so proud of our many accomplishments this year, including our 29th annual Bidwell Park and Chico Creeks Cleanup event that brought out more than 500 community volunteers who cleaned over four tons of waste and recyclables from our local creeks.”

A free open house and garden festival is planned noon to 3 p.m. Feb. 19 at the Humboldt Community Garden, corner of Humboldt and El Monte avenues in Chico, hosted by the Butte Environmental Council.

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.

Environmental groups get together to gain support for local efforts following sustainability conference

“It’s not just what we need to do, but ‘this is what we’ve done,’” Stemen said. “The amount of activity that’s happening around these types of issues—sustainability, environmental justice, basic peace with the planet—is really vibrant in this community so having a night like this allows people to find out what’s going on and be re-energized. When you’re just one group, sometimes it’s a little lonely, then you realize, ‘No, I’m just one of many.’”

The Biological Sciences Outreach Committee put on its second biology career fair at Chico State.

Becky Holden from Butte Environmental Council answers questions from a student.

The Environmental Water Caucus, a group of more than 20 environmental organizations, has filed a lengthy list of objections to Gov. Edmund Gerald Brown Jr.’s plan to drain fresh water out of the Sacramento River before it could flow into the California Delta.

The Environmental Water Caucus includes the following organizations: AquAlliance; Butte Environmental Council; California Coastkeeper Alliance; California Save Our Streams Council; California Sportfishing Protection Alliance; California Striped Bass Association; California Water Impact Network (C-WIN); California Water Research Associates; Center for Biological Diversity; Citizens Water Watch; Clean Water Action; Desal Response Group; Earth Law Center; Environmental Justice Coalition for Water; Environmental Protection Information Center; Environmental Working Group; Food & Water Watch; Foothill Conservancy; Friends of the River; Karuk Tribe; Klamath Riverkeeper; North Coast Stream Flow Coalition; Northern California Council Federation of Fly Fishers; Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations; Planning and Conservation League; Restore the Delta; Sacramento River Preservation Trust; San Mateo County Democracy for America; Save the American River Association; Save the Bay Association; Sierra Club, California; Sierra Nevada Alliance; Southern California Watershed Alliance; the Bay Institute, and, Winnemem Wintu Tribe.

A public forum about where our water comes from and where it goes during — H20 Origins — is planned 6-7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, in Room 111 of the new Arts and Humanities building at Chico State University.

Becky Holden, assistant director of the Butte Environmental Council, will lead the forum, part of a larger monthly education series

The city of Chico Parks Division is hosting an orientation meeting March 30 for people who are interested in becoming parks volunteers.The meeting will be 6:30-8:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers, 421 Main St.

Frequently the Parks Division volunteers team up with what Romain calls “partner organizations” that have special interests in the city’s open spaces. Among them are Friends of Bidwell Park, Friends of Comanche Creek Greenway, Chico Velo-Trailworks, Stream Team, California Native Plant Society and Butte Environmental Council. “Our partnerships with these groups and our volunteers work together for the greater good, making our park and greenways more enjoyable for people,” said Romain.

Published on November 3, 2013 by growingupchico

When it comes to waste, “there is no away.” This is an important life lesson that the Butte Environmental Council hopes to impart to local students, teachers and community members with their new recycling education program. RARE, The Recycling and Rubbish Education program, strives to educate through engaging interactive workshops and field trips, which focus on the four R’s – reduce, reuse, recycle and rot.  The program comes directly to the students at their Butte County school and is completely free of charge. “When we give children meaningful, hands-on experiences within their classrooms and show them up close by visiting the local landfill, they feel connected to the bigger picture of where trash ends up,” said Tanya Parish, RARE program coordinator.  “Our hope is that they then take positive steps to create a healthier and more sustainable future.”

Toxic education Environmental group shines light on Oroville By Tom Gascoyne tomg@newsreview.com This article was published on 11.21.13.

The Butte Environmental Council has launched an educational campaign in Oroville to help alert citizens to the dioxin contamination that has plagued the southern part of town for decades. Billboards demanding action and a series of public forums have been funded by grants from Ventura-based outdoor-clothing company Patagonia Inc. and the Clif Bar Family Foundation. Mark Stemen, president of BEC’s board of directors, said Clif Bar and Patagonia both have campaigns aimed at helping low-income communities deal with the toxic problems they may face. “They were very inspired by the issues and the work we’ve been doing in south Oroville,” Stemen said.

County supervisors wise to institute fracking ban I wanted to thank Supervisors Steve Lambert, Doug Teeter, Bill Connelly and Maureen Kirk for their vote in favor of a ban on fracking (hydraulic fracturing) in Butte County. They all demonstrated a willingness to learn about the issue and to consider the impact on our community that a fracking boom could have. Most importantly, they were willing to vote to protect the beauty, bounty and public health of our community.