# Nature of America

Nature of America is a series of twelve self-adhesive stamp sheets that the United States Postal Service released annually between 1999 and 2010 starting with the Sonoran Desert sheet and ending with the Hawaiian Rain Forest Sheet. Like the Celebrate the Century stamp series, these were printed on large sheets 9"x8¾" (233mm x 171mm), but differed from the former in that they were self adhesive and not gummed.

## Design process

The sheets were designed by Ethel Kessler and illustrated by artist John D. Dawson for the USPS. The original idea for the series, conceived 1996, was for a set of four American desert stamps. This was inspired by the success of Desert Plants commemorative stamps released in 1981. Artist John D. Dawson was recommended by art director Howard Paine and selected for the illustration of these four stamps. Paine had worked with Dawson on three previous USPS issues: American Cats (1988), Idaho Statehood (1990), and Flowering Trees (1998). From four stamps the idea expanded into a proposed set of six stamp sheets covering six ecosystems. After the commercial success of the first sheets the USPS decided to extend the series by six more ecosystems from the Sonoran Desert to the Hawaiian Rain Forest.
The design team drew inspiration from The World of Dinosaurs two-sheet issue of 1997. These sheets were panoramic in design with punched perforations on a gummed sheet. Since the punched perforations would distract the visual continuity of the design, the team decided to go for the self-adhesive format with serpentine die cutting for the individual stamps. Each sheet consisted of a large panoramic image of a U.S. geographical region, with the region's flora and fauna clearly visible. Ten stamps were die cut on to the design, each composing one or more species indigenous to the depicted region. The rear of sheet had a brief descriptive text of the stamp images, accompanied with a graphic outline of the stamp images. The flora and fauna depicted were identified and labelled.

## The sheets

Starting with the Sonoran Desert sheet, the USPS issued a total of twelve sheets in the series. The sheets issued along with date and place of issue denomination and printer:
| Ecosystem | Date of issue | Place of issue | No. stamps in sheet | Face Value | Printer |
| Sonoran Desert | April 6, 1999 | Tucson, Arizona | 10 | 33¢ | Banknote Corporation of America |
| Pacific Coast Rain Forest | March 28, 2000 | Seattle, Washington | 10 | 33¢ | Banknote Corporation of America |
| Great Plains Prairie | March 29, 2001 | Lincoln, Nebraska | 10 | 34¢ | Ashton-Potter (USA) Ltd |
| Longleaf Pine Forest | April 26, 2002 | Tallahassee, Florida | 10 | 34¢ | American Packaging Corp. for Sennet Security |
| Arctic Tundra | July 1, 2003 | Fairbanks, Alaska | 10 | 37¢ | Banknote Corporation of America |
| Pacific Coral Reef | Jan 2, 2004 | Honolulu, Hawaii | 10 | 37¢ | Avery Dennison |
| Northeast Deciduous Forest | March 3, 2005 | New York, New York | 10 | 37¢ | Avery Dennison |
| Southern Florida Wetland | October 5, 2006 | Naples, Florida | 10 | 39¢ | Avery Dennison |
| Alpine Tundra | August 28, 2007 | Estes Park, Colorado | 10 | 41¢ | Sennett Security Products |
| Great Lakes Dunes | October 2, 2008 | Empire, Michigan | 10 | 42¢ | Avery Dennison |
| Kelp Forest | October 1, 2009 | Monterey, California | 10 | 44¢ | Avery Dennison |
| Hawaiian Rain Forest | September 1, 2010 | Hawaii National Park | 10 | 44¢ | Banknote Corporation of America, Inc |

## References and sources
### References

* 1 2 Stamp Announcement 09-45: Nature of America: Kelp Forest USPS 20 July 2013
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Nature of America: A Look Back Archived July 9, 2013, at the Wayback Machine Beyond the Perf 23 Aug 2010
* 1 2 Sonoran Desert Inaugurates The `Nature Of America' Series Sun Sentinel 21 March 1999
* ↑ Nature of America Archived May 26, 2013, at the Wayback Machine Mystic Co stamp catalog
* 1 2 3 4 5 "Sonoran Desert". National Postal Museum, Arago™. Retrieved May 14, 2013.
* 1 2 Hawaiian Rain Forest is final stamp in nature series New Jersey.com 19 August 2010
* ↑ Nature to play major role in 199 postage Kingman Daily Miner - Nov 19, 1998
* 1 2 3 4 Nature of America stamp series includes stunning kelp forest scene New Jersey.com 4 November 2009
* ↑ Hilo Artist’s Work to Be Featured on USPS Bonsai Stamp Series Archived January 29, 2012, at the Wayback Machine Big Island Newscenter Retrieved 22 August 2011
* ↑ "Nature of America: Alpine Tundra". USPS Postal Store Archives. Archived from the original on January 7, 2008. Retrieved February 7, 2008.
* ↑ "Meet the artist". Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved February 7, 2008.
* ↑ 1999 33c Sonoran Desert s/a Pane/10 - Catalog # 3293 Mystic Stamp Co Retrieved 22 July 2013
* ↑ "Pacific Coast Rain Forest". National Postal Museum, Arago™. Retrieved May 14, 2013.
* ↑ 2000 33c Pacific Coast Rain Forest, s/a - Catalog # 3378 Mystic Stamp Co Retrieved 22 July 2013
* ↑ "Great Plains Prairie". National Postal Museum, Arago™. Retrieved May 14, 2013.
* ↑ 2001 34c Great Plains Prairie - Catalog # 3506 Mystic Stamp Co Retrieved 22 July 2013
* ↑ New stamp series depicts Longleaf Pine Forest Times Daily - Feb 16, 2002
* ↑ "Longleaf Pine Forest". National Postal Museum, Arago™. Retrieved May 14, 2013.
* ↑ 2002 34c Longleaf Pine Forest s/a - Catalog # 3611 Mystic Stamp Co Retrieved 22 July 2013
* ↑ "Arctic tundra". National Postal Museum, Arago™. Retrieved May 14, 2013.
* ↑ 2003 37c Arctic Tundra - Catalog # 3802 Mystic Stamp Co Retrieved 22 July 2013
* ↑ More in store for 2003 - stamps that is The Albany Herald - Dec 21, 2003
* ↑ "Pacific Coral Reef". National Postal Museum, Arago™. Retrieved May 14, 2013.
* ↑ STAMP ANNOUNCEMENT 03-33 Pacific Coral Reef Stamps USPS Retrieved 22 July 2013
* ↑ "Northeast Deciduous Forest". National Postal Museum, Arago™. Retrieved May 14, 2013.
* ↑ 2005 37c Northeast Deciduous Forest - Catalog # 3899 Mystic Stamp Co Retrieved 22 July 2013
* ↑ Scores of new postage stamps Moscow-Pullman Daily News - Dec 1, 2005
* ↑ "Southern Florida Wetland". National Postal Museum, Arago™. Retrieved May 14, 2013.
* ↑ 2006 39c Southern Florida Wetland - Catalog # 4099 Mystic Stamp Co Retrieved 22 July 2013
* ↑ "Alpine Tundra". National Postal Museum, Arago™. Retrieved May 14, 2013.
* ↑ Stamp Announcement 07-37: Alpine Tundra USPS Retrieved 22 July 2013
* ↑ "Great Lakes Dunes". National Postal Museum, Arago™. Retrieved May 14, 2013.
* ↑ Stamp Announcement 08-43: Nature of America: Great Lakes Dunes USPS Retrieved 22 July 2013
* ↑ National Stamp Collecting Month Starts With a 'Splash' Reuters 30 September 2009
* ↑ "Kelp Forest". National Postal Museum, Arago™. Archived from the original on June 26, 2013. Retrieved May 14, 2013.
* ↑ 2009 44c Kelp Forest - Catalog # 4423 Mystic Stamp Co Retrieved 22 July 2013
* 1 2 Stamp Announcement 10-22: Nature of America: Hawaiian Rain Forest USPS Retrieved 22 July 2013

### Sources

* USPS News Releases
* Nature of America - US stamp sheets