It took two years — surviving a pandemic, a massive forest fire, and a lawsuit which held up elections in the North Carolina General Assembly — but an effort to have the North Carolina DMV issue license plates featuring Pilot Mountain has come to fruition.
The plates — which feature an image of Pilot Mountain encircled with a banner that reads “Pilot Mountain National Landmark” — were first shipped to state residents who had ordered the plates last week. As is the case with all specialty plates, they cost $30 — higher than regular plates — but $20 of each purchase goes to Friends of Sauratown Mountain, a non-profit organization dedicated to overseeing the mountain and its state park, along with Hanging Rock State Park in Stokes County.
“We’ve been working on them since September of 2020,” said Debbie Vaden of the Friends group.
The group first sought issuance of the plates for two primary reasons: to promote Pilot Mountain and Hanging Rock State Parks, and to raise money. The organization uses the funds from the license plate sales, as well as other fundraisers, to help with needs at the two parks not covered by federal or state funding.
For the DMV to issue specialty plates, state regulations require at least 300 orders for the plates. While that might not have been too challenging under normal circumstances, Vaden said her group was prevented from doing much in the way of public soliciting and education for the plates because of COVID-19 and the associated shut-downs and limits on public activities.
“We couldn’t get out to do much marketing. With COVID going on, there were no festivals or anything going on to get out and market it.” she explained, thus the effort languished.
Then came the Grindstone Fire, which broke out at Pilot Mountain State Park in November 2021. That blaze, which originated from a campfire which grew out of control, rapidly spread, leaving the mountain shrouded in smoke for days and eventually charring more than 1,000 acres before being brought under control.
At the time, Vaden said the license plate effort had been stuck at 190 applications. During the fire, a number of area residents and businesses took more interest in preserving and keeping the mountain in good shape.
“That brought the community together,” she said. “When the fire first happened, it was like everybody all of the sudden were like ‘Oh my God, we don’t want to lose our mountain.’ Everyone wanted to get involved, learn how they could help the mountain.”
In addition to individuals now willing to order the plates and help in other ways, Vaden said many businesses offered donations, including Truliant Federal Credit Union, which donated $6,000, half of which was used to order another 100 license plates for area motorists to use if they wished. That, along with additional orders, put the final tally at 356 in February — more than enough for the DMV to make the first batch.
Only problem was, at that point the General Assembly needed to sign off on the creation of the plates, and lawsuits over gerrymandered legislative districts delayed this year’s spring primary, which in turned delayed much of the work done in a typical session. Eventually, Vaden said, Rep. Kyle Hall was able to shepherd the bill through the assembly by late July.
Afterward, it was a matter of the Friends organization working with the DMV, securing artwork, getting the work done and approved before the plates could be manufactured. Last week, the first ones were issued.
Vaden said now the plates are available on a continual basis — anyone wishing to order Pilot Mountain specialty plates for their vehicle can do so at NC.gov.DMV/specialityplates . The plates cost $30, with $20 of that going to the Friends of Sauratown Mountain.
Initially, she said much of the money coming in last year after the fire was set aside for fire recovery efforts — in some cases for equipment and clothing needed onsite by the fire fighters, and since the money has been used to replant ground cover, rebuilding trails and similar recovery efforts. Going forward, money raised by the group will continue to be used for trail and grouns maintenance, education programs, and other needs at the two state parks.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
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