Launched in 1999, the Great Smoky license plate is the best selling specialty tag in North Carolina, raising $190,000 annually and a total of more than $620,000 to date. The entire process - from passage in the legislature to issuing the plate - took about six months. The most recent quarterly payment of $47,800 represents a nine percent increase over the same period a year ago.

Twenty dollars from the $30 annual fee for the specialty tag goes to Friends of Smoky Mountains National Park to support projects and programs on the North Carolina side of the park. In addition to park trail programs, the license plate income is supporting the experimental return of elk to Cataloochee Valley, improvements to the Appalachian Highlands Science Learning Center near Maggie Valley, and protection of the park's hemlock trees from a deadly exotic insect. The remaining $10 supports the state's highway beautification program and other activities associated with the state's specialty license plate program. The Great Smoky plate is available from any local North Carolina license plate agency office.

It took six months for the plates to be authorized, designed and approved. Legislation required 300 applications before the DMV would begin issuing plates.

The program has a high renewal rate and is a solid source of recurring revenue. The state of North Carolina restricts funds to projects within the North Carolina section of the Smoky Mountains. Similarly, the state of Tennessee restricts revenues for use in the Tennessee portion of the Smoky Mountains.

With strong sales of their North Carolina specialty license plate, Friends of the Smokies is this year earmarking $18,000 to support a package of trail projects. The Friends group will use $9,000 of plate funds to aid the park's Appalachian Trail Ridgerunner Program. Another $6,200 will be used to help hire a seasonal trail crew in partnership with the Student Conservation Association. Another $2,800 of tag money will help start the North Carolina portion of a two-year, park-wide effort to overhaul trial regulation and safety signage.

In Tennessee

The State of Tennessee's Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park official license plate was launched in 1997 and is available from the County Clerk's Office for a fee of $35 per year. $30.75 of the fee goes to Friends of the Smokies to support park preservation and protection programs on the Tennessee side of the park.

Legislation required the state to annually set aside the first $50,000 in revenue generated from the sales of the Friend's plate and place it in an endowment until it accumulated $500,000. The endowment proceeds are paid to the Friends on a quarterly basis. That endowment goal of $500,000 was reached a few years ago, and now the Friends' plate revenue goes directly to the organization. The specialty plate program generates about $550,000 a year.

In 2004 a lawsuit was filed on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood of Middle and East Tennessee against the State of Tennessee's specialty license plate program. According to George Ivey, Director of the Friend's North Carolina Office, the lawsuit had a two-pronged approach. The lawsuit challenged not only the statue authorizing the "Choose Life" plates but also the legislature's general policy and practice of approving specialty license plates. The section of the lawsuit pertaining to the legislature's general policy and practice was found to not have standing and was thrown out. Until the courts or the legislature resolve the legal issues surrounding the "Choose Life" plate, Tennessee's specialty license plate program remains intact.

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When programs in both states began, the Friends was charged with initially collecting the application and money from the applicants. However, after the start-up phase, the DMV in North Carolina and Department of Safety in Tennessee then took over administrative duties.

Due to privacy laws, the Friends cannot access current data from the DMV or the Department of Safety on who is purchasing the tags. The organization feels frustrated by their inability to thank motorists for purchasing plates and renewals, inform them on where the money is going or solicit them for donations. As an alternative, Friends uses press releases as a way of publicly thanking plate purchasers.

Information cards about the specialty license plates and where the money goes are left with the clerk's office or license plate offices. In North Carolina, flyers are also inserted into the plate packages that are mailed out to motorists.

Contact: George Ivey, Director of the Friends' office in Waynesville, North Carolina 828-452-0720