Earned income from the "Tag Fund" supports a variety of parkway projects, such as protecting the scenic quality of the Parkway to educating children and adults about the national park system.

It took three years to establish this park tag program. The experience taught the Foundation's executive director that legislation needs to be carefully crafted. It took an entire legislative session to put together enabling legislation that was "clean" of amendments that legislators had attached to the bill on unrelated items. The final bill was widely supported and signed by every senator in the state legislature.

Legislation required that 300 applications were needed in order for the DMV to begin issuing the plates - 500 applications were initially submitted.

The tag program began 10 months ago and has produced 7,000 Blue Ridge Parkway specialty plates. The Foundation expects that number to increase to 50,000 in the next two years. The Foundation is paid quarterly by the DMV. The tag program presently generates about $40,000 a quarter.

Application forms can be obtained from the Foundation and a number of parkway partner organizations, including the Blue Ridge Parkway Association (blueridgeparkway.org or 828-670-1924). Applications can also be:

1. printed from pdf file online at the foundations website.
2. ordered online at the North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles.
3. purchased at a local county license tag agency office.

The Foundation accepts tag applications at their office which helps facilitate the process. By the time applications are forwarded to the DMV, Foundation staff have ensured that the application is complete and accurate. This helps foster a successful program and a positive relationship with the DMV. "It's all about relationships - that's what been successful in working through bureaucracy," Medford said. By accepting and reviewing applications at their office, the Foundation has access to applicants' personal information which they can use discretely in future fundraising efforts.

In addition to generating revenues, the plates give people the opportunity to display their pride in the Blue Ridge Parkway and serves as a great marketing tool, said Executive Director Houck Medford.

The Executive Director and his board are pleased with the program. Four years ago the board of trustees identified the license plate program as a viable revenue source for the Foundation.

Medford advises that to develop a tag program three things need to be in place:

1. a distinctive license plate.
2. a sizable constituency - in order for it to be beneficial, there needs to be a lot of potential tag sales.
3. a definitive competitive position. Specialty plates are becoming a popular way to raise revenues in Northern Carolina. The Blue Ridge Parkway is one of the most popular plates in the state.

In Virginia

Legislation for the Blue Ridge Parkway tag program in Virginia was passed by the general assembly in 2004, via a bill introduced by Senator John Edwards. A provision of the bill stated that the authority to create a specialized tag would expire on December 31, 2004 if 350 applications had not been received by that date.

Although the specialty tag was widely promoted in Virginia, only 23 applications were received by December 31, 2004. The tag climate was much different in Virginia (compared to North Carolina) - 185 specialty license plate designs that made for a saturated market.

To promote the tag, $500 grants were awarded each to other Parkway stakeholders - Friends of the Blue Ridge Parkway, Western Virginia Land Trust, and the National Council for Traditional Arts (Blue Ridge Music Center). Despite these efforts, the project failed.

Contact: Dr. Houck Medford, Executive Director, Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation at 336-721-0260