2023 First-Class Forever Stamp,Endangered Species: Mississippi Sandhill Crane

U.S. #5799t
2023 Mississippi Sandhill Crane – Endangered Species

• Part of the Endangered Species set celebrating the 50^th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act
• Design pictures a photograph by Joel Sartore’s famous “Photo Ark” project

Stamp Category:  Commemorative
Set:  Endangered Species
Value:  63¢, First Class Mail Rate (Forever)
First Day of Issue:  May 19, 2023
First Day City:  Wall, South Dakota
Quantity Issued:  30,000,000
Printed by:  Banknote Corporation of America
Printing Method:  Offset, Flexographic
Format:  Panes of 20
Tagging:  Phosphor tagged paper

Why the stamp was issued:  To commemorate the 50^th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act and the endangered Mississippi sandhill crane.

About the stamp design:  Like the others in the set, the photograph on the stamp is from Joel Sartore’s famous “Photo Ark” project.  They are among over 13,000 the National Geographic photographer has taken in his quest to shoot photos of as many animal species as possible.

Special design details:  Stamp includes “Endangered” and the common name of the species.

First Day City:  First Day of Issue Ceremony was in Wall, South Dakota, at the National Grasslands Visitor Center.  The center encourages visitors to see the 20 National Grasslands and Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie.  These habitats are home to the black-footed ferret, one of the endangered species pictured in the set of stamps.

About the Endangered Species set:  The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA) was signed into law by President Richard Nixon on December 28.  The legislation “protect[s] species and the ecosystems upon which they depend,” with a goal “to halt and reverse the trend toward species extinction, whatever the cost.”  The ESA is jointly administered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service.

In 2023, the US Postal Service celebrated the 50^th anniversary of the ESA with a set of 20 Forever stamps.  The stamps were issued on Endangered Species Day, which lands on the third Friday in May.  Each design pictures a different endangered species, representing only a small handful of the over 1,300 plants and animals protected under the ESA as of 2023.  The images used for the stamps were part of Joel Sartore’s “Photo Ark.”  Partnering with National Geographic, he set out to capture 20,000 species living in zoos and wildlife sanctuaries around the world.  Together, they are determined to intimately picture each species in order to educate and bring awareness to their preservation.  Sartore calls his work as a photographer a “mission to document endangered species and landscapes in order to show a world worth saving.”

Thanks to the ESA, many plant and animal species that were once endangered have made a comeback.  With the continued effort of conservationists, volunteers, and increased awareness, even more species can make their way back from the brink of extinction one day.

History the stamp represents:  The Mississippi sandhill crane (Grus canadensis pulla) is a critically endangered wading bird once found in Georgia, Florida, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.  However, it was locally extinct in Louisiana by the 1910s and Alabama by the 1960s.  As of 2023, the bird was only found within the 19,000-acre Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge in Jackson County, Mississippi.  The crane was put on the endangered species list in 1973.  Just 40 individual birds remained at that time.

Mississippi sandhill cranes are three to four feet tall and have wingspans of over seven feet.  They have gray feathers with red crowns and white cheek patches.  Breeding pairs raised just one to two chicks per year, with one being the most common.  They live in wet pine savanna, a habitat itself in need of protection and conservation.  In fact, habitat loss is one of the main reasons the Mississippi sandhill crane has such a low population today.

The Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1975 under the Endangered Species Act to protect the birds and their unique wet pine savanna habitat.  The refuge has implemented a captive rearing and reintroduction program as its main way to boost populations.  Thanks to their efforts, the population of cranes has risen to around 120 birds today.