Truckee, CA —
The Sierra Nevada Conservancy chose the design that will be on their proposed Sierra Nevada License Plates as part of their regularly scheduled board meeting today in Truckee. The board unanimously approved the design-in concept. The plate depicts a bear with a mountain backdrop and the slogan “California Watershed .” This logo will be posted on the website as soon as it is approved.
Also at their meeting the Board was told about the proposed memorandum of understanding between The Sierra Fund and the Sierra Nevada Conservancy spelling out the specific tasks of each partner in this campaign. The Sierra Nevada Conservancy's role in this campaign is limited as they are prohibited by statute from expending state funds on the marketing campaign. After extensive discussion the Sierra Nevada Conservancy Board determined that a partnership with The Sierra Fund was the most effective way to manage this campaign.
The memorandum is aimed at ensuring that activities of this campaign are transparent, accountable to both parties, and efficient. It clarifies that The Sierra Fund is responsible for raising the money for and directing the campaign and that key decisions relating to the campaign will be made with the Sierra Nevada Conservancy’s concurrence. The Sierra Fund will be responsible for receiving registration applications and transferring the completed applications to the Department of Motor Vehicles along with application fees when 7,500 valid applications have been received.
The memorandum reaffirms that the license plate campaign is of high priority to the Conservancy, as a key step in building public support and ongoing revenue for the Conservancy’s activities throughout the Sierra Nevada region. The Board of Directors of The Sierra Fund will consider for adoption a resolution affirming the memorandum at their August Board meeting.
The Sierra Fund has led the effort to get a specialty license plate for the new Sierra Nevada Conservancy in order to ensure ongoing, sustainable funding for this crucial new state agency. The California Tahoe Conservancy and the California Coastal Conservancy both receive important revenue for their core operations from sale of specialty license plates. These plates include a beautiful design (a whale tail for the Coast, the lake for Tahoe), and cost the plate owner an extra $40 per year for each car registration, which is then allocated directly to the designated Conservancy.
Legislation signed by the Governor last fall, sponsored by The Sierra Fund and carried by Assemblymembers Tim Leslie and John Laird, created a new process for state agencies that want to establish specialty license plates to generate revenue for their programs. This process requires:
* 7,500 reservations for the license plate have to be collected in one year before the license plate will be issued; and
* the Sierra Nevada Conservancy is not permitted to spend any state funds in collecting the first 7,500 reservations. After that, they can spend 25% of the income from license plate sales on marketing plates to more Californians.
A copy of the memorandum of understanding or The Sierra Fund's resolution is available by calling The Sierra Fund's office at (530) 265-8454 x11 or by sending an email to: izzy.martin@sierrafund.org
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