WASHINGTON - May 1, 2001, Stamp Release No. 01-041. In its continuing efforts to showcase America's scenic national landmarks with overseas recipients of mail, the U.S. Postal Service will issue a new international rate postage stamp honoring Acadia National Park on May 30 in Bar Harbor, Maine.

The 60-cent Acadia National Park stamp is intended for letters weighing up to and including one ounce and being mailed to Canada or Mexico. The stamp will be available at Bar Harbor post offices starting May 30, and it will be available at post offices across the country beginning the following day.

The Acadia National Park stamp will be the fourth international rate philatelic item issued this year. The Mount McKinley stamp, Nine-Mile Prairie stamp and Badlands stamped postal card were issued April 17, March 6 and Feb. 22, respectively. They are all part of the Scenic American Landmarks series.

The series 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.

Acadia National Park in Maine encompasses more than 45,000 acres across several islands, including Mount Desert Island and the Schoodic Peninsula. As the first national park created east of the Mississippi River, it was first established as Sieur de Monts National Monument in 1916 and then as Lafayette National Park by President Woodrow Wilson in 1919. It received its current name in 1929.

With mountains, rocky shorelines, lakes and forests, the park draws more than 3 million visitors a year. Forty-five miles of rustic carriage roads—a legacy of John D. Rockefeller Jr.—provide bicyclists, horse riders, runners and hikers freedom from automobile traffic. More than 273 species of birds have been identified in the Mount Desert Island area. Each year park naturalists anticipate the return of peregrine falcons, which nest in the cliffs overlooking Frenchman Bay and Jordan Pond.

Designed by Ethel Kessler of Bethesda, Md., the stamp features a color photograph by Carr Clifton of Taylorsville, Calif.

How to Order the First Day of Issue Postmark
Customers have 30 days to obtain the first day of issue postmark by mail. They may purchase the new stamps at their local post office, affix the stamps to envelopes of their choice, address the envelopes (to themselves or others), and place them in a larger envelope addressed to: ACADIA NATIONAL PARK STAMP, POSTMASTER, 55 COTTAGE ST, BAR HARBOR ME 04609-9991

After applying the postmark, the Postal Service will return the envelopes through the mail. There is no charge for the postmark. All orders must be postmarked by June 29, 2001.