<HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><HTML><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Geneva" FAMILY="SANSSERIF" SIZE="5"><B> New stamps unveiled June 29 at Tohono Chul<BR>
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</FONT><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Geneva" FAMILY="SANSSERIF" SIZE="4"><I><B><A HREF="http://www.explorernews.com/article/show_by_author/19031"> Explorer Staff</A></I></B></FONT><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Geneva" FAMILY="SANSSERIF" SIZE="2"><A HREF="http://www.explorernews.com/article/show_by_author/19031"><BR>
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Laurie Davies Adams<BR>
Executive Director<BR>
Coeovlution Institute<BR>
425 Washington Street, 5th Floor<BR>
San Francisco, CA 94111<BR>
415 362 1137 (p)<BR>
415 362 3070 (f)<BR>
LDA@coevolution.org<BR>
www.coevolution.org<BR>
www.nappc.org<BR>
www.pollinator.org<BR>
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</A></FONT><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Geneva" FAMILY="SANSSERIF" SIZE="2"><I><A HREF="http://www.explorernews.com/article/show_by_author/19031">Bee Ready for Pollinator Week - June 24-30</A></I></FONT><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Geneva" FAMILY="SANSSERIF" SIZE="2"><A HREF="http://www.explorernews.com/article/show_by_author/19031"><BR>
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</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Geneva" FAMILY="SANSSERIF" SIZE="4"><I><B>June 13, 2007<BR>
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The U.S. Postal Service will unveil its new pollinator stamps June 29 at Tohono Chul Park.<BR>
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The unveiling will take place at 9 a.m., and the desert park near West Ina Road and North Paseo del Norte, will serve as a temporary post office until noon, allowing stamp collectors to buy first-day commemoratives and send mail with the postal service’s first day of issue postmarks.<BR>
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The four-stamp set commemorates nature’s desert pollinators with art designed by Steve Buchanan.<BR>
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According to USPS’s web site, the stamps will show two Morrison’s bumblebees paired with purple, or chaparral, nightshade; a calliope hummingbird sipping from a hummingbird trumpet blossom; a lesser long-nosed bat preparing to dive into a saguaro flower; and a Southern dogface butterfly visiting prairie, or common, ironweed.<BR>
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The graphic scheme emphasizes the ecological relationship between pollinators and plants and also hints at the biodiversity necessary to ensure the future viability of that relationship.<BR>
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The four designs are arranged in two alternate blocksA that fit together like interlocking puzzles. In one block, the pollinators form a central starburst. In the other, the flowers are arranged in the center.<BR>
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The commemorative envelopes were designed by Tucson artist, Jacki Springer, with one in honor of each stamp.<BR>
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The images depict each of the four mountain ranges surrounding Tucson and native Sonoran plants.<BR>
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All purchases made at “Tohono Chul Park Station” will be hand cancelled with a unique postage cancel marking the date and location.<BR>
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Jacki Springer, noted, “My intention when creating these first day covers was to try and compliment Mr. Buchanan’s beautiful stamps and to convey to the public the essence of light and shadow and mountain that is Tucson.<BR>
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“My goal to ‘connect’ to the Pollinator stamps was to show some of the different types of flowering plants that are native to Tucson and live here at Tohono Chul Park,” Springer added.<BR>
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Admission to the park will be free. Commemorative envelopes will be available for $3 each or $10 for the set of four.<BR>
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