2025 Archives

Chico City Council Update

with Addison Winslow and Bryce Goldstein

Eco 822                             December 30, 2025

We spoke with two of Chico's progressive City Council members. (We invited all the Council members, but the others were either busy or did not respond. Bryce and Addison spoke about a number of topics, including suburban sprawl, smart growth, safe streets, public transportation, and more. Toward the close, we invited them to talk about positive results from the Council in the past year.  Problems persist, of course, but they were quite articulate in describing some of the good stuff going on!  Listen to the interview.  Click here.

Squirrel

with Nancy Castaldo

Eco 820           December 16, 2025

On this program we learned about the Ecosystem of squirrels with Nancy Castaldo, author of a new book from Island Press titled Squirrel: How a Backyard Forager Shapes Our World. We found it an engaging and informative read, and during the hour we explored a number of topics: the varieties and distribution of squirrels, their smartness (as opposed to the stereotype of "squirrel-brained," threats to their populations, and, particularly, their real or perceived "nuisance" factor both in suburban backyards and in our cities.

Nancy has written for young people as well as adults, including a number of award-winning books for young readers as well as numerous articles for major environmental publications. She’s a member of the Society of Environmental Journalists and is on the Council of the International Wildlife Coexistence Network. She lives in New York’s Hudson Valley and has a dog named after To Kill a Mockingbird’s Boo Radley! Listen to the interview.  Visit her website. 

Smart Growth

with Eric Nilsson

Eco 817    November 25, 2025

Our guest was Eric Nilsson of Smart Growth Activists, the group that successfully led a referendum that stopped the suburban sprawl of Valley's Edge in SW Chico.  He was also a member of the Chico City Council's Ad Hoc Committee on Growth and Development. Susan Tchudi was both a discussant and interviewer as the two discussed the history of SGA as well as current issues and dreams for revised patterns of urban development, utilizing existing space to create housing communities, neighborliness, convenient commercial zones, and small gardens and parks.  Listen to the program. 

Biochar and Biomass

with Thor Bailey

Eco 816                   November 18, 2025

 Today we’ll be spoke about biomass and biochar with Thor Bailey, a Chico resident who has 42 years of experience working with green technologies and biomass energy. He helped us understand the differences and similarities between biochar and biomass and their uses for power generation, wood waste disposal, and agricultural fertilizer. We were especially interested to learn that biomass "cogeneration" facilities had their heyday some years ago, when well over 100 plants were in operation. Given the interest in restoring and restarting a biomass facility in Oroville (shut down, in no small measure because of a cancer cluster in the area, which led to it's being declared a superfund site). Thor gave us an even-handed discussion of the technologies and their hazards.  Click to: Listen to the program.

Dam Busting

with Tara Lohan

Eco 815    11 November 2025

Today we spoke about dams and dam removal with Tara Lohan, who has just published a book titled Undammed: Freeing Rivers and Bringing Communities to Life.

Tara lives in Bend, Oregon. She writes about environmental issues and has published articles in a number of national publications. She filled us in on a growing number of dam takedowns to open up natural river flows and enhance fish movement. She also described the origins of the dam-building impulse, why many dams are failing or obsolete, and removal projects underway, including the recently completed project on the Klamath River.  Listen to the program.

Note: This Website is Under Re-construction. We'll catch up ASAP

 

Today we spoke on the phone with Gary Ferguson about his book with Island Press: TheTwilight Forest: Elegy for Ponderosa in a Changing West.. Gary is author of more than twenty books on nature and science and has written articles for Vanity Fair and Outside. He’s also received a number of awards for his books, and he lectures on a variety of environmental issues. He described his travels in New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, the California Sierra looking Ponderosa Pines, which are threatened with extinction because of excess and bad logging, fire (especially), and climate change. He is not confident that the Ponderosa will survive through the end of the century. He also told us about the remarkable evolution of the species and its ability to adapt to new conditions (but not excessive fire, drought, and climate change). We were moved by this Elegy and Gary's deep understanding of not only the forest, but the creatures and plants that share it. We highly recommend this book for its breadth of knowledge and empathy with our changing environment. He and his wife, Mary Clare, have a project called Full Ecology, and you can learn more about it and Gary's books at FullEcology.com.  Twilight Forest is published by Island Press
 
 
 
This episode was an interview by Susan about the 50th Anniversary of the Butte Environmental Council. Our guests were among the founders of BEC: in 1975, Steve Evans represented the NorthState Wilderness Committee; Michael McGinnis represented the Forces to Restore Earth's Environment;  Paige Gimbal was with the Community Gardens Project; and Janelle Covault created the Student Environmental Collective. The four reminisced about the early days in the creation of BEC, including trials, tribulations, and troubles, but also rejoicing in BEC and its successes over a wonderful half century.
Listen to the interview. Click Below.

 

 
 
In this program we got into the realm of speculative fiction--a book about an alternative America. The author is Daniel Rirdan, who wrote his first novel, Interstellar Crew, at age 13 while living in Israel. He says that after kicking around the world for multiple decades, he “returned to speculative fiction at [age] fifty and hasn’t looked back.” In the book Chris Walden–a voyager, see cover, left–becomes absorbed by life in a parallel universe called “Americana.” Daniel writes “It was as if someone took a Norman Rockwell painting, scrubbed off the nostalgia, and made it actually work.” Republic of Forge and Grace-- which we read in advanced copy–will be out in January published by Corino Press. You can learn more about Daniel and obtain his books at www.danielrirdan.com

 

 

OROVILLE PROPOSED BIOMASS ENERGY 
with Bill Bynum, Linda Draper, and Ken Scherer
Eco 808                                                        9-18-25
The City of Oroville appears poised to resuscitate a Biomass Energy Facility that served the town for a number of years before being closed down and declared a Superfund site because of the presence of Dioxin and other poisons. Our guests are opposed to the plan and offer a number of reasons why the City Council should reject the proposal. In this wide ranging interview they discuss the harmful side effects of such a plan and  overstated claims by the developer for financial and energy gains. Bill Bynum is a longtime community activist in Oroville, including work done to expose the previous biomass project on the site. Linda Draper is a former Oroville City Council member and has worked diligently to preserve Oroville's historic sense of community. Ken Scherer is a proponent of biochar, a very different means of production which produces materials that are actually useful for agriculture. 

 

 
 From time to time on this program, we like to catch listeners up on recent news on the environmental front. We gleaned some articles that we think have important implications for our time. This evening we’ll read about environmental toxins—the plastics and the chemicals that get into our bodies through the water we drink, the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the air we breathe and more. We first reviewed articles about the incredible amount of plastic out there, particularly microplastics that are both dangerous to people and animals and are omnipresent. Then we reviewed research on "forever" chemicals, both their pervasiveness and industry efforts to muffle criticism and evade legislation. California is at the forefront of some positive legislation, so there's a bit of good news on that front. Finally, we reviewed recent lawsuits by young people who know they have a legal and constitutional right to a safe and clean(er) planet.  Listen to the program: click below.

 

 

 
Our guest was  Leslie Layton, founder, publisher, and editor of the bilingual, online news source, Chico Sol, a local nonprofit news organization focusing on community journalism, investigative reporting, and issues that might be under‑covered by mainstream media. We asked Leslie to tell us about her background in journalism and the history of Chico Sol, then we delved into some of her "favorite" stories and those that have received the greatest response. We then discussed the biggest challenges for local media in telling the most important/most useful news and how the consumption of news has changed in an electronic/social media driven universe.
ration has impacted news coverage. You can learn more about and subscribe to ChicoSol at chicosol.org.
 
Our guest on this program was Cheetah Tchudi, He is a Farmer and a Certified Technical Advisor in Regenerative Agriculture.  He also serves as a Groundwater Engagement Organizer for Community Alliance with Family Farmers. (Disclaimer: He is also our son.)  We spoke about how our region manages water and about his work with the Community Alliance with Family Farmers. Water in the West is getting harder to come by. And water in Butte County is one of many  places where water issues are complicated and often contentious. Cheetah helped is unravel some of those complications. 

Among our questions: 
 
--How does our county/region go about managing water? 
--What is Sustainable Groundwater Management Act and how does if affect the use of water?
--How is groundwater sustainability defined?
--What does SGMA implementation look like in Butte County?
--What will it take to achieve groundwater sustainability in the Vina Subbasin?
--Are there plans to reduce groundwater pumping in Butte County?
--Tell us about Community Alliance of Family Farmers. 
--Give us some examples of projects with family farmers.
 --How can people get involved? Or keep informed

 

 
Our topic today was the West Bank of Palestine. Our guests were Janet Leslie, Jim Anderson, and Carin Anderson. who have recently been to Palestine and have made multiple visits to the West Bank over the years and have worked on the ground in various ways. Jim and Janet are well known in our community as activists, Jim a former faculty member at Chico State, Janet a long time nurse. Both do important work via the Chico Friends and the Chico Peace Alliance. Carin is a former teacher at Sherwood Montessori and is deeply involved in supporting children who are victims of the turbulent state of affairs in the West Bank. We discussed what they've seen recently in the West Bank, where they went, where they didn't go, changes in politics and life in the West Bank, and what people can do to assist the Palestinian people. 

 

 
 
Our guest on Ecotopia was John Sanbonmatsu, author of a book titled The Omnivore’s Deception: What We Get Wrong About Meat, Animals, and Ourselves. It has just been published by the New York University Press.  John is Professor of Philosophy at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts and author of several books on critical theory, politics, and animal liberation. We want to thank fellow KZFR programmer Robert Jones for telling us about the book and helping us make contact with him.
John's uncompromising argument is that "exploiting and killing other beings for human purposes is morally indefensible, and that we should abolish the meat, egg, dairy, and fishing industries.” He passionately describes global animal cruelty, not just in the meat industry, but in environmental abuses that are driving animals to extinction. He takes issue with those who argue that there can be "compassionate meat," animals raised under allegedly better and safer conditions, and he starkly criticizes many apologists for meat consumption, whether enlightened or purely savage. We didn't have enough time to explore the myriad issues addressed in the book and recommend it highly. 

 

 
 
Steve sat in for Sue Hilderbrand in an episode of The Real Issue. His guest was B Fulkerson, National Organizer for Third Act, the organization created by Bill McKibben to engage vigorous senior citizens in issues of the environment and democracy. They told us the history and philosophy of Third Act and some of its projects, including:

... Voter Registration and Voter Rights
... Boycotting the Big Banks–Economic Justice
... Public Utilities and Clean Energy
... Racial Justice

Beyond B's work for Third Act, we asked them about current crises under Donald Trump, including:

... attacks on transgender and gay people (military, health and gender-affirming care, sports)
              ... diversity, equity, and inclusion
... k-12 and college/university education
... hate crimes, hate speech
... lying as a way of life

Despite telling us they are "heartbroken" over the state of affairs under Trump, B closed with very much upbeat thoughts on how people can build community and resilience in this painful time and deep optimism that the values of democratic America will, in the end, prevail.
 
THE IMPACT OF TRUMP and OTHER QUANDARIES
with David Welch
Eco 799.5     7-15-25
 
Our guest today on Ecotopia was David Welch, a community activist on several fronts. A registered nurse, he was a leader in the California Nurses Association. He is former President of the Democratic Action Club of Chico and a current member of the Butte County Democratic Central Committee.
We spoke about a range of topics, mostly focusing on the local effects of Trump administration decisions,including: 
  • · The dismantling of American science
  • · Reversal of a wide array of pro-environment actions.
  • · RFK attack on vaccination and health science in general.
  • · How people can stay sane in times like these
  • · The wide range of forms that activism can take and the importance of following the one that is right for you.
A great interview with a remarkable Chicoan. 
 
Sue Hilderbrand was our guest. She's the longstanding host of The Real Issue on KZFR (Wednesdays at 6). As a host, Sue doesn't always have a chance to express her own opinions (though few of her listeners would have many questions about her views), so we thought we'd turn her loose on the Ecotopian microphones. She did not disappoint. We asked her about the state of democracy under Trump, what she sees as the burning issues of our time, and her optimism or pessimism about the future of the U.S.  We were both surprised and delighted by her responses, which combine pragmatism with a sense that the high moral and political principles on which this nation is founded will ultimately prevail.
Listen to this excellent and animated interview.
Click below.
 
Arctic Passages
with Kieran Mulvaney
Eco 795     5-13-25
Our guest today on Ecotopia was Kieran Mulvaney, who has written a book titled Arctic Passages, published by Island Press. 

Kieran is the author of several books and myriad articles on environmental and other topics. He has traveled widely on all seven continents and most of the seven seas. An environmental activist, he has led trips to confront whalers in both the Antarctic and Arctic. He’s been active with Greenpeace and is the co-founder of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society.

Arctic Passages describes the history of efforts to traverse the top of the world via the mythical and real Northwest and Northeast passages and focuses on international competition to control those waters as climate change shrinks the Arctic ice packs. 

We asked him to explain the geography, politics, and environment of "the Arctic": who has interest in it and why, and how melting Arctic ice will change access to the top of the world and quite likely create global jockeying for access. 
 
Your Local Marketplace Pop-Up Markets
with Sammey Zangrilli
Eco 789    April 1, 2025
Our guest on Ecotopia tonight was Sammey Zangrilli one of the owners of TurkeyTail Farm and one of the founders of Your Local Marketplace Pop-Up Markets.By way of full disclosure, Sammey is our daughter-in-law and our partner in the TurkeyTail Farm enterprise.She has launched a new  market that takes place Saturdays, noon-4, at 1405 Park Ave, Chico, CA 95928. Vendors include farmers and craftspeople, and we discussed who they are and the parameters the market has for where products are sourced. You can learn full details at https://www.yourlocalmarketplacechico.com/  We also had a good discussion of the role of small businesses in the Chico economy.
 
 
Chico Country Day School--
Fifth Graders and their Walk 4 Water Campaign
Eco 788                      March 25, 2025
 
This was a very special program, with about 30 fifth grade students from Chico Country Day School. They spoke of their work publicizing and fundraising for Walk 4 Water, a perambulatory event in Chico, as well as their understanding of the urgent need for clean water in countries around the globe. By way of background, they spoke of the study of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which specifies clean water as a human right. They also reviewed two books they read as background: Esperanza Rising and A Long Walk to Water. The students then explained the event in detail, including the organization for which they are fundraising and its plans to create clean water for Ugandans. Next, they described their public relations campaign, including letters and emails seeking support from local businesses, posters and announcements for the event, and even a bake sale. Their teachers, Denai Rubio and Nicole Hardoy, helped us wrap up the program by explaining why this project is a vital part of their curriculum.
Listen to the program; click below.
 
Our guest on this program was Osprey Orielle Lake. She is the Founder and Executive Director of Women’s Earth & Climate Action Network, International (The acronym is WECAN). She works nationally and internationally with grassroots, frontline, Indigenous and business leaders, policy-makers, and scientists to promote climate justice, resilient communities, and a just transition to a clean energy future. She spoke with us about how extractive technologies, linked with capitalism and colonialism, have led to a world in crisis. Her work has explored how indigenous values and origin stories as well as women's roles and values point the way to a more sustainable planet. As former English profs and were especially interested in her discussion of how languages, in general, and English, in particular, affect how we see the world and may limit our vision. Finally, she told us about WECAN, and its work toward divestment and fossil fuel extraction, women regeneration of forests, advocacy at the Conference of Parties (COP), and an upcoming conference of the Women's Assembly for Climate Justice. Learn more at https://www.wecaninternational.org/

Listen to this inspiring (and inspiriting) interview: click below.

 
Our guest was David Gessner, who is Chair of the Creative Writing department at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington. His has written The Book of Flaco: The World's Most Famous Bird, published by Blair/Carolina Wren Press. Flaco was a Eurasian Eagle-Owl who was freed from his cage at the Central Park Zoo by persons unknown. For a year he lived in and about Central Park in New York City. David's book followed his journeys and discussed some of the controversies surrounding him: whether he should have been trapped and returned to the zoo, whether public attention was a good or bad thing, and the cause(s) of his death. The book also has "Rachel-Carson-esque" implications for urban birds and beyond. Listen to the program; click below.

POWER
with Richard Heinberg
         Eco Extra          
Tonight’s program was a replay of an interview we did a couple of years ago with Richard Heinberg about his book: Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival. The book identifies four key elements supporting human power: tool making ability, language, social complexity, and the ability to harness energy sources ― most significantly, fossil fuels. Have we, he asks, become so powerful that we risk extinction?
Listen to the program; click below.
 
 
WHERE DOES CHICO GROW FROM HERE?
with Eric Nilssen, Jacque Chase, and Susan Tchudi
Eco 783                            February 18, 2025
 
In this program, Susan Tchudi was on the other side of the interview table tonight, and she joined two other guests in discussing a forum “How Does Chico Grow from Here.”   Eric Nilsson serves on the Butte Environmental Council Board. He is a member of Smart Growth Advocates and has been participating in Chico's Ad Hoc Committee for Housing and Urban Development. Jacquelyn Chase is a retired professor of Geography and Planning (now Geography and Environmental Studies) at Chico State. She has a Ph.D. in Urban Planning, and has been studying the place of wildfire in our built environment since 2004. And Susan Tchudi, Cohost of Ecotopia, is on the Board of the Butte Environmental Council and is one of the founding members of Smart Growth Advocates. In addition to the forum, they discussed their views of healthy directions for Chico to grow in the future, with particular emphasis on urban infill rather than sprawl. They critiqued the proceedings of the Chico Growth and Community Development Committee and suggested ways in which they'd like to see that committee act as it prepares recommendations for the Chico City Council.
Listen to the program. Click below.
 
 
In this episode we interviewed Barbara Vlamis, Executive Director of AquAlliance: "Defending Northern California Waters." She reviewed the mission and history of the organization, as well as its track record of winning environmental lawsuits. Barbara told us about a current lawsuit against the Colusa Irrigation District and its plans, which, under the guise of water savings, would actually lead to ground subsidence, wells going dry, and the transfer of northstate waters to the ever-thirsty south. We also discussed other lawsuits pending against Sustainable Groundwater Management Act Agencies and against the developers of the Valley's Edge project in Chico. She further described her organization's stances on the Single Tunnel Project and Sites Reservoir. This was an especially informative interview. Learn more about and donate to AqaAlliance at aqualliance.net. Listen to the program: Click Below.
 
THE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA REGIONAL LAND TRUST
with Cynthia Perrine
Eco 780             28 January 2025
Our guest on this program was Cynthia Perrine, who is the Executive Director of the Northern California Regional Land Trust. Cynthia’s hometown is Chico, and she’s spent the past three decades working throughout California and Nevada as a field biologist and program director for state and federal agencies, non-profits, and academic institutions. In addition to her academic and work experience in applied ecology, she holds an MBA from Southern New Hampshire University, is a Certified Non-profit Professional (CNP) with Non-profit Leadership Alliance, and a Certified Wildlife Biologist (CWB) with The Wildlife Society.

Website: The Northern California Regional Land Trust was founded in 1990 by a coalition of Butte County residents concerned about the pace at which the North State was growing up around wild places. Originally named the Parks and Preserves Foundation, the organization functioned as a local, grassroots land trust that promoted cooperative preservation and enhancement of scenic open space and significant habitat resources in Butte County.

She told us about the Trust's amazing record of preserving land and how they go about discovering eligible land and working with landowners to put that land into a permanent easement, thus protecting it from development and environmental damage.

Learn more at www.landconservation.org
 
WATERS OF THE UNITED STATES
with Roy Gardner
Eco 779             21 January 2025
 
Our guest on this program was Roy Gardner, author of a new book from Island Press titled Waters of the United States, with an intriguing subtitle, POTUS, SCOTUS, WOTUS and the Politics of a National Resource. The acronyms refer to the President of the United States, the Supreme Court of the US, and the Waters of the United States. In this excellent interview, Roy helped us understand more deeply the waters of the US and the rules, regulations, and laws that govern them--a deeply complex set of legal restrictions and protections that help to keep our water safe, but also lead to many lawsuits and much legal wrangling. Roy is Professor of Law and Director of the Institute for Biodiversity Law and Policy at Stetson University College of Law in Florida, where, he likes to take students on swamp walks in the Western Everglades. His research and scholarship focus on wetland legal and policy issues. He has lectured in Africa, Asia, Europe, and North and South America. He has longstanding interest in wetlands including work with the Ramsar Convention, an international wetlands treaty. There is much more in the book than we could cover in the interview, and we recommend that listeners get a copy to learn more.
Listen to the program, click below..

 
SNOW GOOSE FESTIVAL
with Jared Geiser and Trish Reilly
Eco 778                     14 January 2025
 
The Snow Goose Festival is celebrated each year in January, when the geese flock to wetlands by the thousands. Jared Geiser and Trish Reilly told us all about the 2025 festival, with field trips, workshops, exhibits, and more. Jared is a longtime environmental advocate and the director of AltaCal Audubon. Trish is a retired nurse educator and a birder since the 1970s. Shes been volunteering with the Snow Goose Festival for many years and is the field trip coordinator.
Listen to the program; click below..

MULTISOLVING
with Elizabeth Sawin
Eco 777               January 7, 2025
Our guest was Elizabeth Sawin, author of a fascinating new book from Island Press; it’s called Multisolving: Creating Systems Change in a Fractured World. She has a PhD in Biology from MIT and has a long career in working on sustainability and related issues. In 2010 she cofounded the think tank Climate Interactive to create tools for grappling with the complexity of the climate system.  And in 2021 she founded the Multisolving Institute to develop tools tailored for “multisolving,” which involves thinking and acting systematically on multiple issues and problems. She provided examples of multisolving at work in communities around the world and outlined its principal "ingredients": stocks (of goods, resources, human capital), flows (which result in changes of the stocks, and reinforcement loops (which help people understand and evaluate the success of their wor
 
 
 
 
Happy New Year 2025
Eco 776    December 31, 2024
We ushered out 2024 and welcomed 2025 with a program devoted to promising environmental news as well as resolutions for the coming year. Topics covered included electricity generation and storage, projects to save endangered species, restoration and recovery of land and sea, and declarations giving both people and animals legal standing in battles over the environment. We closed with speculation and optimism on the nagging question, "Do small scale efforts make a difference?"
Listen to the program.