New Postage Stamps Spotlight the Natural Beauty of America’s Wild and Scenic Rivers

On May 21, 2019, the U.S. Postal Service released a new series of Forever stamps spotlighting Wild and Scenic Rivers. For the National Park Service, the new stamps are also an invitation to find recreational opportunities on public lands and waters. At the First-Day-of-Issue Stamp Dedication at Tumalo State Park in Bend, Oregon, Steve Thede, Superintendent of the Niobrara National Scenic River, which was featured on the stamp series, invited all Americans to grab their lifejackets and head out onto their local river.

The stamps pay tribute to the exceptional streams that run freely through America’s natural landscapes. This pane honors each rivers’ beauty with a dozen Forever stamps, each showcasing a different segment of the Wild and Scenic River System.

The National Wild and Scenic Rivers System was created by Congress in 1968 to preserve certain rivers with outstanding natural, cultural, and recreational values in a free-flowing condition for the enjoyment of present and future generations.

Several Wild and Scenic Rivers depicted in the series are associated with units of the National Park System:

• Merced River: Yosemite

• Tlikakila River: Lake Clark

• Koyukuk River: Gates of the Arctic

• Niobrara River: Niobrara

• Snake River: Grand Teton and Yellowstone

• Flathead River: Glacier

Photographic Credits: All first-row photographs were captured by award-winning photographer Michael Melford. A wintery shot of the Merced River in California is followed by two aerial photographs: a seasonally verdant Idaho segment of the Owyhee River and Alaska’s meandering Koyukuk River.

The second row begins with another aerial photograph, Michael Melford’s image of Nebraska’s tree-lined Niobrara River. Next are two photographs by naturalist Tim Palmer: a Wyoming segment of the Snake River with a spectacular sunset silhouetting the Grand Tetons, and a Montana segment of Flathead River whitewater rapids.

Row three begins with the White Cliffs segment of the Missouri River in Montana, in an image captured by Bob Wick, a staff photographer for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Tim Palmer photographed the Skagit River in Washington State, with volcanic Mount Baker in the background. Waterfalls along Oregon’s Deschutes River were photographed by Bob Wick, BLM.

The fourth and final row offers an aerial shot of the Tlikakila River in Alaska, captured by Michael Melford. Next is a view of Ontonagon River rapids running through lush greenery in Michigan, in a Tim Palmer photograph. The final image shows Pennsylvania’s Clarion River, mist-shrouded in a photo by Bob Wick, BLM.

Framing the stamps is selvage that again features Michael Melford’s Merced River image. At top, the title “Wild and Scenic Rivers” is printed in a coordinating gray, left of center, in a graceful serif font.