Smokies Plates Cruise Past 20 Years, $15 Million

A black car driving through the Smokies with a Friends of the Smokies license plate.
Friends of the Smokies

Friends of the Smokies specialty license plates in North Carolina and Tennessee are driving improvements all over the park.

For a small annual fee of $30 in North Carolina, you can share your love for the Smokies with everyone on the block and make a real difference for the park at the same time. Since 1998, these plates have raised more than $15 million for the Smokies!

The park has used money from these programs to support critical projects like Preventative Search & Rescue volunteers, brook trout restoration, fighting the hemlock wooly adelgid, and of course, projects to support the park’s 1,500+ black bears.

“We are heading into another busy year for the Smokies,” says Chase Pickering, Friends of the Smokies board member. “Visitation was at an all-time high last year, and that trend looks like it’s going to continue for 2019. It’s amazing to think you can do something as simple as getting a license plate to support your national park. Having a bear on the plate is just a bonus.”

The North Carolina Smokies plate was designed by Micah McLure. To find out how to get your own plate, visit BearPlate.org today!