From Friends of the Smokies:
WAYNESVILLE, NC – More than 32,000 drivers in North Carolina and Tennessee are giving back this holiday season with Friends of the Smokies specialty license plates. Sales of full-color plates in North Carolina and Tennessee support critical projects in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP). Projects supported by the specialty plate fees include Student Conservation Association (SCA) internship positions as well as Parks as Classrooms and Appalachian Trail Ridgerunner programs in both states.
License plate sales in North Carolina and Tennessee generated more than $805,000 in 2015. Since the program launched in 1999, specialty plates have raised more than $12.5 million in support of America’s most-visited national park.
These contributions help fund multiple projects in GSMNP including support for seasonal environmental internship positions through the SCA. Student interns gain a deeper understanding of park ecology while conducting scientific research, assisting with resource management projects, and eradicating non-native plants and pests.
Through the Parks as Classrooms program, approximately 18,000 students from North Carolina and Tennessee visit GSMNP each year for ranger-led curriculum-based environmental education. By utilizing the national park as a science classroom, students develop an appreciation for the natural and cultural resources in subject areas including math and science.
Over the past 15 years, the Appalachian Trail (A.T.) Ridgerunner program works to protect resources and enhance the hiking experience along the A.T. within the national park. Ridgerunners educate backpackers and day hikers, clear trail debris, help report emergencies, and pack out litter along more than 70 miles of the A.T. in the park.
Friends of the Smokies specialty license plates can be purchased for $30 in North Carolina and $35 in Tennessee, independent of plate expiration date. Plates may be purchased at North Carolina tag offices, Tennessee County Clerk offices and online at www.FriendsOfTheSmokies.org.
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For more than 20 years, Friends of the Smokies has raised over $48 million to help maintain Great Smoky Mountains National Park as a crown jewel of the national park system, including the establishment of the Trails Forever endowment to improve Smoky Mountain hiking trails in perpetuity
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