Transportation Cabinet
TROPHY PLATE UNVEILED AT SALATO CENTER - Transportation Cabinet and Dept. of Fish and Wildlife Present “League of Kentucky Sportsmen” License Plate

FRANKFORT,KY  (May 19, 2006) - Kentucky deer hunters now have a license plate to call their own. Officials with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources and the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet unveiled the new plate this afternoon at the Salato Wildlife Education Center just outside Frankfort.

 The specialty license plate features a trophy buck drawn by acclaimed wildlife artist Rick Hill. The plate will now be available at county clerks’ offices across the state. The cost is $25. Additional money, above and beyond the cost of the plate, can be contributed at the time of purchase to help fund wildlife habitat improvements and purchase more land for public hunting and fishing access.

  A law enacted by the Kentucky General Assembly in 2005 required groups requesting a specialty plate to submit 900 applications for that plate before the design process can start. Roy Mundy, commissioner of Vehicle Regulation for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, commended the League of Kentucky Sportsmen for their successful efforts to make the new plate a reality.

 “They got the required number of applications together in short order,” Mundy said. “This has to be a proud moment for sportsmen all across the Commonwealth.”

 Kentucky, which ranks among the top five states in America for trophy deer, has approximately 190,000 resident deer hunters. “This is the first time that a white-tailed deer has appeared on a Kentucky license plate,” noted Jon Gassett, Commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. “It’s an important recognition of our hunting heritage and the folks who help drive our rural economy. We think that hunters will definitely want this on their trucks.”

 Officials with Kentucky Fish and Wildlife worked closely with the League of Kentucky Sportsmen and the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet to make the new license plate a reality. The League of Kentucky Sportsmen sponsored the plate.  League President Ronnie Wells pointed out that the additional proceeds, beyond the cost of the plate, will be used by the League’s non-profit corporation (the Habitat Improvement and Land Acquisition Foundation) to purchase land for public use by hunters and anglers.

 “The foundation is an outgrowth of the League and the current Board of Directors’ commitment to the sportsmen of Kentucky to act now, to guarantee that there will always be places available across the Commonwealth open to hunting and fishing,” Wells said. “The League of Kentucky Sportsmen truly has the future of hunting and fishing represented on this license plate.”

 More than 1.2 million Kentuckians hunt and fish in the Commonwealth.

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