Texas’ state flower, the bluebonnet, has adorned a conservation license plate that was introduced 12 years ago to help raise funding for state parks. In that time, sales of the plate have generated more than $1.3 million.
To reach out to more state park and Texas aficionados, the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department will introduce a second license plate, and areallowing the public to have its say in what the design will feature.
“The goal is to bring in new people that may want to support state parks, but who may not be comfortable putting a wildflower on their three-quarter ton pickup truck,” said Thomas Wilhelm, program coordinator for state parks, in a news release.
The three designs in the running for being on the new plate are a campfire, a nighttime tent scene and hikers. Voting will be through Aug. 31 on the department’s survey page.
The winning plate will be announced in September and will be available in the spring for vehicles, trailers and motorcycles online or through local tax offices. The plate will cost $30 a year in addition to regular vehicle registration fees, with $22 going to fund Texas state parks.
The new license plate will join other available designs including the horned lizard, bluebonnet, largemouth bass and white-tailed deer which benefit other TPWD programs. The specialty plates have raised more than $6 million dollars for conservation, according to the release.
