Nature Conservancy’s bison license plates being printed
A bison stampede onto Oklahoma streets and highways is coming — but the dust cloud is still a ways out on the horizon.
After first orders were taken in November by The Nature Conservancy Oklahoma, bison license plates finally are in production with an expected first arrival date somewhere around mid-August. The plates now can be ordered directly at tag agency counters.
“The initial making of the plates takes some time, the initial run, but then it will take off from there,” said Paula Ross, public information officer for the Oklahoma Tax Commission.
The first run contains those early November orders collected by the Conservancy plus some standard-numbered plates, Ross said. Future orders of the plates with customized lettering or numbers will take eight to 12 weeks to receive in the mail.
The Nature Conservancy has devoted a great deal of staff time to making the license plates happen the past several months, but spokeswoman Katie Hawk said it has been worth it.
“Right now we’re just excited and we can’t wait for that first person to get their plate in the mail and put it on their car and send in the picture,” she said.
Initial reports said the plates would be available for order through tag agencies within two or three months after the Conservancy secured more than 500 orders and had the design approved in late December, but it took more than twice that long.
“If we were to do it again we wouldn’t try it the same year that the state is producing a new license plate,” Hawk said.
The plates caused a stir last fall with what many considered a superior design unveiled on the heels of the state announcing its new blue scissor-tailed flycatcher license plate, a required switch for all motorists as they renew their 2017 registrations.
Gov. Mary Fallin signed a bill last August that called for the switch because older license plates were becoming less reflective and visible and to help with vehicle registration enforcement statewide, a boost expected to yield up to $4 million in additional revenue according to legislative reports at the time.
Most nonprofit license plates (the state lists more than 200 specialty offerings) are created through approval by the Legislature and an initial order of 100 plates collected by the organization. The Conservancy is the first to use another process that required 500 orders upfront to get around the legislative approval requirement.
The organization collected nearly 1,200 orders through the first of February. After that, people could put their names on a waiting list to be notified when orders could be placed through the state’s system.
Hawk credited the Tax Commission and the plate-making facility with doing all they could under a heavier than usual load.
“The Tax Commission and the tag plant were slammed with issuing and producing the new (state) plates so they weren’t able to put the attention into a new special project like they usually would,” Hawk said.
The design had to go through several proofs to finalize the plate. The background was ultimately changed to a solid gradient instead of one with distinct lines.
A financial partner also had to be secured.
State statute requires license proceeds go to a state agency, so the nonprofit Nature Conservancy had to partner with a state entity to collect the funds on its behalf, Ross said.
“It’s a check-and-balance kind of measure, even though the money first comes through (the Tax Commission),” Ross said.
Each new plate will sell for $38, with $20 going to the Conservancy and $18 to the Tax Commission. Annual renewals will cost $36.50.
Hawk said money for the Conservancy would be funneled through the Oklahoma Conservation Commission and issued in a lump sum as an annual grant at the first of each year.
“Each year we will select a specific project for those monies to be directed to and we will communicate that so at a bare minimum our members know exactly how it’s being spent each year,” she said. “It’s not just going to go into operating expenses.”
People wanting the plates were bison fans, Nature Conservancy supporters and a large number who simply wanted something other than the new scissor-tail design, Hawk said.
“We’ve done a lot of public education on specialty plates in general,” she said. “We might have even helped sell some of the other hundred-and-some other specialty plates the state offers.”
The most common point of confusion about the plates is the extra and recurring cost, she said.
A specialty plate is renewed annually in addition to the official state plate, which must be kept in the vehicle and stays with the vehicle if it is sold. Motorists buy new-year stickers annually for both plates.
“It’s been a challenge but it has generated a ton of public engagement that helped us get our message out and build awareness about what we do,” Hawk said.