New Wild and Scenic River Stamps

Recently, at the Guilderland, New York Post Office the staff told

me about  a wonderful new pane of commemoratives, celebrating

the Federal Wild and Scenic Rivers program.  

Ever since I can remember, I have loved rivers.  Some of them

have been working rivers, others have been wild and scenic.

My father used to read to me about the New York Central’s

passenger trains rushing down the east side of the Hudson River

on the way to Grand Central Terminal.  We lived for several

years on Grand Island, New York, with the Niagara River

flowing inexorably towards Niagara Falls. And I’ve enjoyed

fishing and boating on countless rivers ever since.

The Federal Wild and Scenic Rivers system includes river

segments with outstanding fish and wildlife, geology, recreation,

cultural or historical values. They flow freely through natural

settings without man-made alterations.   

According to Marti Johnson at the U.S. Postal Service,

“Some 200 river segments — 13,000 miles of approximately

3 million U.S. river-miles — are in the Wild and Scenic Rivers

System, launched in 1968.”

“With this pane of twelve stamps,” Johnson continued, “the

U.S. Postal Service honors these American treasures, represented

in a portfolio of exquisite river photographs.”  The photographs

in this series were taken by Michael Medford, Tim Palmer and

Bob Wick.

The Postal Service chose Wild and Scenic Rivers from across the

United States and from Alaska. The rivers and photographers

are listed on the Postal Service's website and the stamps may be

purchased there if they are not available at a local post office.

After using up an entire pane of the stamps, I became curious

about what it was like to  photograph a river. 

When I asked Marti about this, she introduced me to Bob Wick,

a photographer and Wilderness Program Manager at the Federal

Bureau of Land Management.  Three of Bob’s photographs are

in this pane: Steelhead Falls on the Deschutes River in Oregon,

the White Cliffs on the Missouri River in Montana and an early

morning view of the Clarion River in central Pennsylvania.

Bob shared great anecdotes about nature photography generally

and the photographs he contributed to this stamp series.  

His most important photographic secret weapon “is a loud

alarm clock. “ Bob scouts locations during the day and 

photographs “before dawn and again in the evening to

capture the golden light.”

“Rivers in canyons,” he continued,  “are a bit tricky; if

they run north and south, one side of the canyon will be

in shadow in morning/evening.  I usually look for stretches

that run east-west and use a sun angle table to determine when

and where the sun will rise and set.”  

Here are some specific observations Bob shared about each of

his three photographs:

“In situations like the Deschutes River at Steelhead Falls, I had

no choice about picking an angle of light. I just made sure

I was out early in the morning when most of the canyon and the

entire falls would be in the shadows so the light would be even. 

This also allowed me to take a very slow exposure on a tripod

(about 2 seconds) so that the moving water has that

blurred, silky moving look.”

Another bonus of photographing rivers early in the morning or

towards evening is that fog and mist are often present and, Bob

observes, this gives “the image more interest .”   The mist adds

realism, as many river lovers have been on the water at a time

when the mist is rising. 

There’s a trick in the Clarion River photograph.  The reds in the

trees may cause the viewer to think this photograph is an autumn

view.  However, Bob revealed, “The shot is actually a cool spring

morning -- everyone thinks it’s fall but the red is from early buds

on the trees.”  

“This photo of the Upper Missouri,” Bob said,  “is quite orange;

there were fires burning in Western Montana at the time and they

created a haze.”  “By taking the image looking towards the sun

(compared to having the sun behind me),” he continued, “I was

able to maximize the diffraction of light through the haze.”

“The Upper Missouri River,” Bob said, “is one of my favorite

river segments.  There are several stretches that you can float in a

three to four-day canoe trip where the canyon is entirely roadless.” 

“Lewis and Clark wrote about the White Cliffs in their journals

and it is easy to become immersed in the landscapes they

experienced, since the corridor is undeveloped.  The big

difference is that they were working their way upriver

while most people today float downriver with the currents!  

“Their voyage of discovery also led to the designation of the

Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, which overlays the

wild and scenic river designation on this part of their route.  

“About 50 miles from the White Cliff,  at a place called Cow

Creek, the Nez Perce Tribe crossed the Missouri just 70 years

after the Lewis and Clark expedition as they fled from the

pursuing US Cavalry. They made a fateful decision to stop and

rest after crossing, which led to their capture and surrender north

of the River.  

“This area truly represents an amazing slice of US history with

ambitious western expansion side by side with Native American

loss and sorrow.”

The Federal Wild and Scenic Rivers program has inspired many

states to create their own programs to protect rivers that are

considered wild, scenic or recreationally significant.  Finding

these programs is a hit or miss proposition. On some state

websites the program is easy to find. On others, it’s not.  

There's many ways to enjoy America's rivers, from putting

one of these stamps on a letter to a wilderness whitewater

trip. However you experience rivers, I hope you can

get out there and enjoy them soon!