If you signed a campaign form over the winter because you want a Smokey Bear license plate, and are now wondering if 3,499 other folks signed it too, the answer is yes.
In November 2023, Hilary Franz, Commissioner of Public Lands, announced the initiative to add a special plate to the many Washington state options promoting wildfire prevention. The dark green plate would feature Smokey Bear, a well-known cartoon icon representing the U.S. Forest Service’s Wildfire Prevention Campaign.
For those of you who don’t know, Smokey is based on a real bear who was rescued from a New Mexico wildfire in 1950 and later lived in the National Zoo in Washington D.C. where he required his own zip code because of the number of letters and honey sent to him.
According to a November 2023 press release from the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, the revenue from the proposed plate would go to wildfire prevention. The plate would cost $40 while renewals would be $30.
Though the petition received all 3,500 signatures needed, the bill for creating several new special license plates did not make it through the state legislature this year.
“We plan to re-file the bill in December and try again in 2025,” DNR’s Communications Manager Will Rubin said in an email.
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Jaya Flanary is CDN's designer/digital editor; reach her at jayaflanary@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 106.
