New wildlife license plates
Oklahoma's new striped bass wildlife license plate
Oklahoma drivers have three new wildlife specialty plates available for purchase: the Texas horned lizard, the mallard duck and the striped bass.
The three new plates became available this month and join six other wildlife plates currently available at local tag agencies: the whitetail deer, the scissor-tailed flycatcher, the largemouth bass, bobwhite quail, wild turkey and rainbow trout. The price is $38 and they can be ordered from the Oklahoma Tax Commission.
Of the wildlife license plates, the whitetail deer is the most popular seller, said Rachel Bradley of the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.
Money from the sales of the wildlife plates go to a Wildlife Department fund that helps manage non-game species (those that are not hunted or fished) in the state like the Texas horned lizard, Bradley said.
“It’s been kind of an iconic species in Oklahoma,” Bradley said of the lizard. “The Texas horned lizard is very popular in Oklahoma.”
I’m guessing the striper plate will be popular around Lake Texoma. Personally, I think a black bear plate would be good seller now that Oklahoma has a black bear hunting season and their population is expanding in the state.
But Bradley said the Wildlife Department doesn’t have any timetable on when other wildlife specialty plates will be released.
The Wildlife Department wants to see how well the new ones sell before planning to issue any more, she said.
The Texas horned lizard wildlife license plate
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I think the black bear plate would be a hit. Everyone loves bears. I would like to see Oklahoma become the new bear state and compete with Arkansas. The bear population is increasing interest in Oklahoma and tourism. The more bears in the state the beter. You might say the bears are putting Oklahoma back on the map. I hope the bear population mestakes of the past are not repeated in Oklahoma.