Vote for New Wildlife Tag Designs

The Department of Natural Resources' Wildlife Resources Division wants the public to help select the best tag design for their new wildlife tags.

Georgians can vote for the new wildlife tags at www.georgiawildlife.com by clicking on the “Make Your Vote Count” link, filling out a short survey and casting a vote.

Which design do you like best? Let us know in the comments.

According to a press release from the DNR, a share of purchases and renewals of the new tag will go toward conservation and habitat restoration efforts for the Nongame Conservation Section, the Bobwhite Quail Initiative (BQI) and the Trout Restoration Program of the DNR’s Fisheries Management Section.

“We are excited about the opportunity to allow Georgians to vote on their favorite tag design through our website,” Wildlife Resources Division Director Dan Forster said in the press release. “We have many beautiful wildlife designs to pick from and we hope that the switch to a full plate design will excite the public and they will want one on their vehicle.”

The deadline to vote on the new tag designs is Sept. 15, 2012. The winning designs will then be announced and made available in local tag offices and for online renewals through the Georgia Department of Motor Vehicles. Specialty plates cost $60 (plus ad-valorem taxes and other fees standard for all plates). Annual renewals cost $35.

Officials with the DNR said results of the survey will help determine which tags will be produced. The tags will then be available for purchase through the Georgia Department of Motor Vehicle Services.

Potential designs include:

• Nongame wildlife tags, supporting the state’s Nongame Wildlife Conservation Fund - Two designs will be chosen including Blue heron in a shoals river scene; green tree frog; bald eagle soaring above Georgia pines; hummingbird with trumpet creeper; bald eagle with American flag; painted bunting; and North Atlantic right whale.

• Bobwhite Quail Initiative tags, supporting the Bobwhite Quail Initiative - Mother quail and chicks; flushing covey with a white-tailed deer; and turkey and a flushing quail with a white-tailed buck.

• Trout (Trout Unlimited) tags supporting the Fisheries Management Section trout conservation program - Brook trout; rainbow trout; trio including brook, rainbow and brown trout; and a brook trout chasing a fly.

Officials say that Georgia’s Nongame Conservation Section receives no state general funds for its mission to conserve wildlife not legally hunted, fished for or trapped, as well as rare plants and natural habitats in the state, but depend on direct contributions, grants, and fundraisers such as the nongame plates. Fundraisers account for about two-thirds of funds raised.

Learn more at www.georgiawildlife.com/conservation/support. BQI license plates are the sole funding source for habitat restoration efforts on private lands benefiting bobwhite quail. The Trout Unlimited License Plate benefits Georgia’s trout fisheries. Georgia TU, which is part of a national volunteer organization, is devoted to conserving, protecting and restoring Georgia's trout fisheries.