The Postal Service issued a souvenir sheet of the 37-cent Northeast Deciduous Forest stamps in ten designs, on March 3, 2005, in New York, New York. The stamps were designed by Ethel Kessler of Bethesda, Maryland, and illustrated by John D. Dawson of Hilo, Hawaii.
The Northeast Deciduous Forest stamps are the seventh in an educational series designed to promote appreciation of North America's major plant and animal communities. The previous issuances in the Nature of America Series were the Pacific Coral Reef (2004), Arctic Tundra (2003), Longleaf Pine Forest (2002), Great Plains Prairie (2001), Pacific Coast Rain Forest (2000), and Sonora Desert (1999).
The Northeast region's temperate climate, with its four distinct seasons and ample precipitation, supports a complex forest community dominated by maples, oaks, birches, beeches, and other deciduous trees. Evergreens, like pines and hemlocks, may also be found here, as well as various species of ferns, wildflowers, and plantlike organisms such as mushrooms, algae, and lichens.
All of the species depicted on the stamp pane can be found in deciduous forests of the Northeast. A description of this type of forest community and a numbered key to the artwork appear on the back of the pane, along with a corresponding list of common and scientific names for twenty-seven selected species.
Avery Dennison printed 55.6 million stamps in the gravure process.
