Washington vehicle plates to benefit special causes

Bicyclists, wildlife and national parks in Washington are finally poised to get more than grief from motor vehicles.

Starting Jan. 3, drivers will be able to pay an extra fee for one of 19 new special vehicle license plate designs approved by the 2005 Washington legislature. Most of the extra fee goes to the cause depicted on the plate design.

The new laws bring the number of special license plate choices to 26, with causes ranging from Armed Forces veterans to the Zags.

Indeed, money from the plates featuring the Gonzaga Bulldog, WSU Cougar or UW Husky go to that institution’s alumni association for scholarships. Other groups cashing in on the plates include Masons, square dancers, Seattle Mariners fans and animal shelters.

The initial cost for the special license plate backgrounds is an extra $40 above the cost for regular plates, plus $30 a year thereafter. Each year, $28 of those fees goes to the selected cause, and it’s tax-deductible.

Several new plates will generate money for outdoor causes. Among them:

•The Ski & Ride Washington plate will raise funds for the Northwest Winter Sports Foundation, which promotes youth winter outdoor activities.

•The Share the Road plate benefits the bicycle safety programs sponsored by the Bicycle Alliance of Washington.

•The Washington National Parks plate will go to a fund that boosts programs in Mount Rainier, North Cascades and Olympic parks. The Washington National Parks Foundation capitalized on the new license plate option by organizing an auction for the plates with numbers 1 through 15.

Held in November, the auction raised an additional $23,612 for the fund, said Betsy Greer Edwards, foundation executive director.

“Special license plate NP00001 fetched $3,000 alone,” she said.

Washington’s first vehicle license plates with wildlife logos — choose from a bald eagle, black bear, elk, killer whale or mule deer — will benefit wildlife management programs, and the lowest numbered plates will go to winners of a lottery the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife conducted early this fall.

More than 7,000 people applied for the right to buy the first wild critter plates, department officials said.

Margaret Greydanus of Gig Harbor, whose name was drawn for orca plate 00001, said she would have been happy with any of the license backgrounds.

“They’re so distinctive and such a representation of Washington,” Greydanus said, according to an agency release. “We’re lucky to live in a state that has so much beauty and wildlife.”

Proceeds from the orca plates will help restore endangered and threatened species. Funds raised from bald eagle plates will go toward wildlife-viewing projects, while those generated by the deer, elk and bear plates will support management of the state’s game-animal populations.

Ken Fortune of Bothell won the drawing for the first mule deer background although a black bear might have been more appropriate. Fortune once bagged a trophy-sized bear while hunting near Lake Roosevelt and has been an avid hunter and fisherman all his life.

“I always make sure I do what I can to support (wildlife management),” Fortune said. “That’s why I put in for that license plate. I want to tell people I appreciate wildlife.”

Wildlife has been the top beneficiary of vehicle license programs, starting in 1973 when Washington voters passed Referendum 33. The initiative overruled a veto by Gov. Dan Evans and authorized drivers to make up unique combinations of words and numerals for their individual plates.

The referendum earmarked profits from the plates for wildlife diversity research projects, said Mike O’Malley, the Department of Wildlife’s watchable wildlife program manager.

“Currently we’re bringing in about $2.5 million a year in revenue from those personalized plates,” O’Malley said. “When the state boosted the number of characters on the plate from six to seven in 1987, the income doubled within about five years because of the additional potential combinations.”

The new license plates with wildlife backgrounds that will become available in January will give wildlife management another financial boost.

“And in March 2007, people will have yet another option,” he said. “That’s when you will be able to combine the personalized license plate option with the new wildlife background options.”