May 11th was an exciting day for the United States Postal Service; it was the day the new Semipostal Stamp was unveiled on Capitol Hill at the Annual Association of Zoos and Aquariums reception. Proceeds from the Save Vanishing Species Semipostal stamps will go toward helping Tigers, African and Asian elephants, Rhinos, Great Apes, and Marine turtles. According to a USPS press release, net proceeds from the sales of the stamps, once issued in September, will be transferred to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to support the Multinational Species Conservation Funds.
Deputy Postmaster General Ron Stroman was quoted as saying, “This stamp marks the fourth Semipostal issued by the Postal Service. These types of stamps provide an extremely convenient way for the American public to contribute to help protect threatened and vanishing species. We look forward to working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Multinational Species Coalition to make this stamp a resounding success.”
The Multinational Species Coalition is an alliance of conservationists, zoos, veterinarians, animal welfare groups, circuses and sportsmen. Made up of more than 20 million members, the coalition advocates for the Multinational Species Conservations Funds and is fully committed to generating superior interest to this stamp and the funds it was designed to support: African Elephant Conservation Fund, Asian Elephant Conservation Fund, Great Ape Conservation Fund, Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Fund and Marine Turtle Conservation Fund.
The Save Vanishing Species stamp, now available for preorder at usps.com/shop, features an illustration of a tiger cub by artist Nancy Stahl. According to the press release, “The artwork on the full sheet of 20 stamps is dark green and includes silhouettes of a rhinoceros, a tiger, a gorilla, Asian and African elephants and a marine turtle. Stahl based both the stamp art and the silhouettes on photographs of wildlife. The phrases “Save Vanishing Species” and “Amur tiger cub” appear on the left side of the stamp. Derry Noyes served as the art director, designer and typographer for the stamp.”
To begin with, five million sheets of stamps will be printed and reprints will be available depending on customer demand. The stamps will sell for 11 cents more than a First Class Mail Stamp—55 cents—and $11 for a sheet of 20.
Legislation creating these stamps was first passed into law in September 2010 as the Multinational Species Conservation Funds Semipostal Stamp Act of 2010. To learn more about the process it took for the Stamp Act to be signed into law, visit my previous blog post about this issue here.
For more information on the Semipostal stamp and the coalition, visit fws.gov/international/semipostal.
The Multinational Species Coalition includes: African Wildlife Foundation, American Bird Conservancy, American Veterinary Medical Association, Association of Zoos and Aquariums, Bonobo Conservation Initiative, Born Free USA, Cheetah Conservation Fund, Chelonian Research Foundation, Conservation International, Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International, Defenders of Wildlife, Fauna & Flora International, Feld Entertainment, Inc., Humane Society of the United States/International, International Crane Foundation, International Fund for Animal Welfare, International Elephant Foundation, International Rhino Foundation, Jane Goodall Institute, National Audubon Society, National Wildlife Federation, The Nature Conservancy, Ocean Conservancy, Safari Club International Foundation, Sea Turtle Conservancy, Sierra Club, The WILD Foundation, Wildlife Alliance, Wildlife Conservation Society, Wildlife Management Institute, World Wildlife Fund
*All facts and quotes from USPS May 11, 2011 Press Release
