Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park on stamp in June

By Michael Baadke

A photograph of Reid Inlet from the Inside Passage will appear on the Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve forever stamp in the upcoming National Parks stamp set from the United States Postal Service.

The stamp is one of 16 in the set, scheduled to be issued June 2. The Postal Service is revealing the stamp designs one day at a time over a three-week period. The Glacier Bay stamp is the seventh to be pictured.

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.

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“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.”

The Postal Service will issue the 16-stamp set on June 2 with a ceremony at World Stamp Show-NY 2016 at the Javits Center in New York City.

Previous stamps revealed in this set honor Acadia National Park, Arches National Park, Assateague Island National Seashore, Bandelier National Monument, Carlsbad Caverns National Park, and Everglades National Park.