Have you seen the big beautiful bill?
It’s big.
It’s beautiful.
It’s American.
Mycteria americana, to be exact.
North America’s only native stork species has the biggest, most beautiful bill you’ve ever seen.
I occasionally come across these beauties in swampy Central Florida.
It is also known as wood ibis (see the similarities in bill shape?) and flint head for the scaly looking skin on its bare head.
The bill isn’t the only enormous thing about these storks. They stand 30″-45″and have an impressive wingspan of 60-65″.
Federally designated as threatened, the wood stork relies on hydrocycles, normal seasonal flooding, for feeding and breeding.
You can visit the FFWCC to learn more.
The loss of habitat for all bird species in Florida is a pressing issue. That’s why the proposed legislation of the “big beautiful bill” is so worrisome. There’s a lot of shady shenanigans going on in that monster of a bill, it’s over 1100 pages, The part that’s specifically concerning is Part IX, Subtitle B- Water, Wildlife, and Fisheries.
Read it for yourself to see, but to make a TLDR, it cuts funding for things that benefit wildlife.
Sec. 80201. Rescission of funds for investing in coastal communities and climate resilience.
Sec. 80202. Rescission of funds for facilities of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and national marine sanctuaries.
Sec. 80203. Surface water storage enhancement.
Sec. 80204. Water conveyance enhancement.,
and those are just a handful out of cargo ships full of cuts and rescissions that will affect the health of all the living things, us included.
I was already testing the wood stork print when I came upon the bad behemoth bill, so I decided to make a few prints on the actual words of the sections that will directly affect the wildlife. Think of it as my bit of sympathetic magic. Stamping out the harmful text with an actual big beautiful billed creature.
I hand pulled 5 of each for the first edition. Plain 5×7 paper, or 8×10 paper with the H.R. 1 text.
Prints will be signed on the back and will come on an archival backing in a clear protective bag.
It’s not easy to keep one’s head above water when the zone is constantly flooded. We may feel like we are sinking into the mud on some days. But we can enjoy what we have while we have it, and in the act of doing so, that joy ignites the will to fight and persevere.
To my friends everywhere, remember that hope is the thing with feathers.
Click here to add either of these prints to your collection.
