New Texas license plate benefits monarch butterfly conservation
AUSTIN, Texas - The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) will be releasing monarch butterfly conservation license plates on June 21. The license plates will help raise money to help conserve monarch butterflies and other native Texas, non-game, at-risk species.
All TPWD conservation specialty plates cost $30 a year, with $22 going to TPWD to support various programs and efforts. Plates can be purchased for vehicles, RVs/travel trailers, trailers, and motorcycles.
"To save the monarch butterfly and its unique long-distance migration, we must promote initiatives that support the species and its conservation," said Dr. Rebeca Quiñonez-Piñón, monarch outreach coordinator at the National Wildlife Federation. "At the National Wildlife Federation, we are proud to join the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department in the fight to preserve the iconic monarch butterfly and bring awareness to the dangers it is currently facing."
The public was invited to vote for their favorite design for the new monarch butterfly license plate last September and the winning design is on the new plate. The design shows one large monarch butterfly and three smaller ones seemingly flying off the plate as if starting their famous spring migration journey up north, according to a press release from TPWD.
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For only $30 you can put one of these conservation license plates on your vehicle, motorcycle or trailer.
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"The monarch butterfly is a species that is beautiful and iconic in that it is one of nature’s great migration stories," said John Davis, TPWD’s Wildlife Diversity Program Director. "This species migrates through Texas from Mexico in the spring making its way to the northern extremes of the U.S. and into Canada, then reverses that feat in the fall to overwinter in Mexico. This great migratory story is in jeopardy with the overwintering population experiencing steep declines in the last decade. By adding the monarch to our family of plates, we hope to increase support for this beautiful migration event and through our conservation efforts, brighten the future for this, and many other species."
For more information on TPWD’s conservation license plates, click here.