Inclusiveness is a growing priority in many parts of society… but how about an inclusive Bay license plate?
Maryland’s well-known “Bay Plates”, which have featured a great blue heron or a crab over the years, has just been reworked to include not just the Chesapeake Bay, but the state’s Coastal Bays on the Atlantic side of the state.
The Chesapeake Bay Trust unveiled the plate’s new look at the Assateague State Park Living Shoreline. Instead of the slogan “Protect the Chesapeake”, the new license plate says “Protect the Chesapeake & Coastal Bays”. The Bay Bridge and crab images remain, along with a sandy beach.
The reasons behind the change make good sense. Sales of the plates, which cost $20, pay for community-based environmental projects on both the Chesapeake and the Coastal Bays.
The inclusion of the Coastal Bays also allow more Delmarva drivers and vacationers to represent Ocean City, Assateague, and all the surrounding towns on their license plate.
Maryland District 38 Senator Mary Beth Carozza, Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration, and Maryland Coastal Bays Program all worked together on the updated design.
The “Bays” plate is now available at MDOT MVA branch, car dealerships, tag and title agencies, or by visiting:
cbtrust.org/purchase-a-bay-plate/
Most of the revenue from the Bay plate flows through the Chesapeake Bay Trust, which awards funds to hundreds of nonprofit grantees each year who want to lead their own projects. Past projects have ranged from wildlife habitat improvements to water quality restoration.
When the first Bay license plate was launched in 1990, it was one of the only specialty license plates in the country. Its design changed in 2004, then again in 2018, when its new look won an international award from the American Association of License Plate
Collectors.
There are over 370,000 Bay plates on the road today. The Chesapeake Bay Trust has received $31.6 million from the Bay plates over the past ten years.
