More National Parks centenary stamps revealed

By Michael Baadke 

The United States Postal Service has continued its day-by-day unveilings of 16 stamp designs for its upcoming tribute to the National Park Service centenary.

The first four stamps revealed, beginning April 4, showed scenes from Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor, Maine; Arches National Park in Moab, Utah; Assateague Island National Seashore in Maryland and Virginia; and Bandelier National Monument in New Mexico.

The next five stamps, revealed between April 8 and April 14, show Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico, Everglades National Park in Florida, Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve in Alaska, Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona, and Gulf Islands National Seashore in Florida and Mississippi.

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Richard McGuire’s photograph of the interior of Carlsbad Caverns was selected for the design of the stamp commemorating Carlsbad Caverns National Park in southern New Mexico, near the border with Texas.

The area was established as a national monument in 1923, and was designated a national park seven years later. In 1995, it was declared a World Heritage Site. The caverns extend over 46,000 acres, with 120 caves known in the park today.

The stamp depicting Everglades National Park features an image by fine art photographer Paul Marcellini of Miami, Fla.

On his website, Marcellini notes that he specializes in natural images of South Florida. The Postal Service describes the image as having been created from nine variously exposed photos.

According to the National Park Service, the park spans 1.5 million acres.

“Everglades National Park was established in 1947 to conserve the natural landscape and prevent further degradation of its lands, plants, and animals,” the National Park Service reports.

“Visitors can enjoy a multitude of activities from hiking, canoeing and biking, to camping, ranger led programs, tram tours and boat tours.”

A 3¢ stamp issued Dec. 5, 1947, commemorated the dedication of the Everglades National Park.

A photograph of Reid Inlet from the Inside Passage will appear on the Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve forever stamp.

The photograph was taken by professional nature photographer Tom Bean of Flagstaff, Ariz. Bean was offered a summer ranger job at Glacier Bay National Park and spent five summers there, and one at Denali National Park.

“I spent most of my days off out in the park, photographing the majestic beauty of its mountains, glaciers, rainforest, mist, and fog,” Bean said.

“I returned to Glacier Bay National Park in 1987, this time to photograph for the National Geographic Society. My assignment was to shoot the Inside Passage, from Vancouver in Canada all the way up to Glacier Bay. The photo used on the Glacier Bay National Park stamp was taken while I was on a kayak trip there in July, 1987. We were camped at Reid Inlet, where a beautiful sunset reflected in the still waters as this iceberg floated slowly past our campsite.

“This photo did not make it into the final edit of the book project I was working on for National Geographic, but it has always been one of my favorite images from that assignment. I’m so pleased it has been selected for this postage stamp that commemorates the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service.”

Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona is featured on the eighth stamp revealed by the Postal Service.

And for the second time in less than two years, a horizontal United States forever stamp featuring the Grand Canyon will show a painting by British-born American artist Thomas Moran (1837-1926).

A set of four stamps issued Aug. 21, 2014, honored Hudson River School artists with paintings by Moran, Asher B. Durand, Frederic Edwin Church, and Thomas Cole (Scott 4917-4920). Grand Canyon, a 1912 oil painting, was shown on the 2014 stamp honoring Moran.

The new stamp in the National Parks set shows a detail of a 1912 chromolithograph on canvas titled The Grand Canyon of Arizona, from Hermit Rim Road, according to the Postal Service.

The Grand Canyon has been a popular subject on U.S. stamps, with a half-dozen other stamps showing the massive 277-mile long natural wonder in northern Arizona.

A 2¢ red stamp showing geological formations of the Grand Canyon was issued July 24, 1934, in that year’s National Parks Year series (Scott 741).

The vertically oriented stamp for Gulf Islands National Seashore shows a heron in tall grasses at the water’s edge. The photograph was taken by John Funderburk of Hernando, Fla.

Gulf Islands National Seashore is part of the northern Gulf of Mexico, stretching 160 miles from Cat Island, Miss., to the Okaloosa Area east of Fort Walton Beach, Fla., with “magnificent white beaches, and fertile coastal marshes,” according to the National Park Service.

The 12 areas of the national seashore include “historic forts, shaded picnic areas, trails, and campgrounds.”

Gulf Islands National Seashore is featured on the ninth forever stamp revealed this month in the planned set. It is expected that the Postal Service will reveal most of the remaining seven stamps within the next week or so.