FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 17, 2001

Postal Service Honors Mount McKinley With New International Rate Postage Stamp

FAIRBANKS, Alaska — In its continuing efforts to showcase America's scenic national landmarks with overseas recipients of mail, the U.S. Postal Service today issued a new international rate postage stamp honoring Mount McKinley.


The 80-cent Mount McKinley stamp is available today at all Fairbanks post offices, and, starting tomorrow, will be available at post offices across the country. The stamp is intended for letters weighing up to and including one ounce and being mailed to all countries other than Canada and Mexico.


"The Mount McKinley stamp serves as a reminder of the awesome beauty and wonder we can enjoy by visiting our national parks," said Postmaster General William J. Henderson, who dedicated the stamp along with Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK).


"Alaskans are proud of our great mountain," said Stevens. "The release of this stamp ensures that recipients of foreign bound U.S. mail can share in Alaska's natural beauty and are encouraged to visit our land."


The Mount McKinley stamp is the third international rate philatelic item issued this year. The Badlands stamped postal card and Nine-Mile Prairie stamp were issued Feb. 22 and March 6, respectively. They are all part of a series honoring scenic American landmarks that began in 1999 with the Niagara Falls stamp, the Mount Rainier stamped postal card, the Voyageurs National Park aerogramme and the Rio Grande stamp. A stamp featuring the Grand Canyon was issued on Jan. 20, 2000.


Mount McKinley is located in Alaska's Denali National Park and Preserve. At 20,320 feet, Mount McKinley is the highest mountain in North America. The original park was established on Feb. 26, 1917, as a wilderness area called Mount McKinley National Park. It was incorporated into Denali National Park and Preserve in 1980.


Designed by Ethel Kessler of Bethesda, Md., the stamp features a color photograph of Mount McKinley taken by world renowned National Geographic Society photojournalists John Eastcott and Yva Momatiuk. Text on the stamp reads "Mount McKinley, Alaska."