ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Drive anywhere around town, and you’ll see all kinds of specialty plates — Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, Friends of the Appalachian Trail, Friends of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Pisgah Conservancy and Save the Honey Bee to name a few.
A colorful addition is set to hit North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles license plate tag agencies in a few months. The new plate will highlight the Tar Heel State’s connection to the Venus flytrap.
According to the North Carolina Botanical Garden website, the carnivorous plant is only found in the wild in a 90-mile radius near Wilmington. Officials said the plates aim to bring awareness to the Venus flytrap’s declining population, which has been negatively affected by development and poaching.
Gov. Roy Cooper signed a transportation bill on July 3 that authorized the specialty plate.
An employee at the tag office on Smokey Park Highway said the new plates had not been shipped yet.
“It’s still a few months out,” he said. “But, you would come in and order it, and it would be sent to you by the DMV.”
Sales from each $30 plate will be split between the NCDMV and the North Carolina Botanical Garden Foundation Inc. The foundation will receive $20 from each tag to help fund conservation efforts, The remaining $10 will go to the NCDMV.
The plate was designed by Preston Montague, a Durham-based artist, educator, and landscape designer.