Postage Stamps to Feature Assateague Ponies

The ponies who roam Assateague Island will soon be making trips outside their zip code. That's because the United States Postal Service is putting the wild ponies on a postage stamp, to be released in June.

To celebrate the centennial of the National Park Service, the postal service is rolling out 16 Forever stamps, each showcasing a different national park.

The stamps will hit mailboxes June 2, but this week officials released some of the designs, including one featuring the Assateague ponies.

Assateague Island, where more than 300 wild ponies roam, is located in two states—Maryland and Virginia—with herds of feral ponies divided equally among them. The National Park Service manages those on the Maryland side, while the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company oversees the herd on the Virginia side of the state line fence.

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The Assateague Forever stamp depicts two ponies grazing on the barrier island and was created using an image from nature photographer Tim Fitzharris of Fayetteville, Ark.

The full set of 16 Forever stamp designs will be previewed gradually throughout the month of April. So far, in addition to Assateague, those showcasing Acadia National Park in Maine and Arches National Park in Utah have been released.

“These stamps celebrate the 100th anniversary of the National Parks," Postmaster General Megan J. Brennan said, "[and] serve as an inspiration for Americans to visit, learn and to write cherished memories of their trips to these incredible wonders."

Have you visited Assateague and seen its wild ponies? Tell us in the comments!

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Photo Credit: Tim Fitzharris/USPS.