BEF QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER
March 2006

BEF and Vote For Change artists help an Iowa school go solar

The Maharishi School in Fairfield, Iowa is the most recent beneficiary of the Vote For Change Renewable Energy Project. In January, the school received a 1.1-kW PV system, as well as a curriculum package that uses the real-time data generated by the system to help teachers instruct students on the benefits of renewable energy. This is the third of eight installations managed by BEF and sponsored by the Vote For Change Renewable Energy Project (Stone Gossard, Pearl Jam, REM, Bonnie Raitt, and the Dave Matthews Band), as part of the artists’ national effort to raise awareness of the environmental impacts of our energy choices. See the project’s live data on the web at
http://www.b-e-f.org/renewables/maharishi.shtm.

BEF's Watershed work is profiled in American Fisheries Society publication

The American Fisheries Society published a paper in the January issue of Fisheries Magazine that outlines BEF’s rationale for developing and implementing a long-term, Model Watershed approach to watershed restoration. The peer-reviewed paper highlights BEF’s intent to measure progress, consistently apply scientific methodology, and base restoration strategies on quantified results.

“This paper reflects years of exploration dedicated to the design of an approach for effective and accountable watershed restoration in the Pacific Northwest,” said Angus Duncan, BEF’s President and CEO. “In the paper we discuss the inadequacies of short-term funding strategies, and we explain our rationale for adopting a long-term and monitoring-intensive approach.”

The paper can be downloaded at
www.b-e-f.org/watersheds/fisheries.pdf.

BEF's first-ever Annual Report is available now

Go to www.b-e-f.org/about and download our 2005 Annual Report and our new Foundation brochure. Send us an email and let us know what you think of these new materials.

BEF “greens” Sub Pop recording artist, Kelley Stoltz

San Francisco based home-recording multi-instrumentalist, Kelley Stoltz, created his new album Below the Branches with 100% renewable energy from BEF Green Tags. Both the vinyl and compact disc versions are the first to incorporate the Green-e “Made with Renewable Energy” logo on the packaging. Similar to the USDA Organics or recycled content labels, the Green-e logo identifies to consumers those products made using clean, renewable energy.

While Stoltz hopes the album will have a positive impact on listeners, he is proud to know that the energy used in its creation had no impact on the environment.

To read a review of Kelley’s new record in Rolling Stone, visit: www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/_/id/9192919/rid/9211955/.

Or visit Kelley on Sub Pop at:
www.subpop.com/bands/kelley_stoltz/below_the_branches/index.html.

Click here to view Kelley’s current tour schedule.

Green Travel: Bio Bio Worldwide Expeditions is BEF’s newest partner to offer green travel options

After years of traveling the world and working as guides in Africa, Chile, Peru, Costa Rica, Siberia, Nepal and California, Marc Goddard and Laurence Alvarez-Roos, founders of Bio Bio Expeditions, started guiding on the Bio Bio River in 1991. They went on to personally guide over 65 trips on the Bio Bio. When the Bio Bio was dammed in 1998, they kept their company name in respect and admiration for the wild river that plunges through steep and narrow gorges from the Andes to the Pacific coast of Chile.

Adventurers on Bio Bio trips can expect the thrill of running free-flowing rivers and trekking on ancient trails. And now, all trip participants will have the option to "green" their travel. Check out BEF’s newest green travel partner at www.bbxrafting.com.

Thank you to our other new Green Tag supporters:

• Banyan Botanicals
• Little Shop of Bagels
• Pacific Domes
• Solgenix LLC
• ZRK Enterprises