The often secretive and charismatic bobcat takes care of itself but relies on supportive habitats such as state forests, land trust lands and other open space lands. The bobcat along with the choice of the bald eagle, is one of the stars of the Connecticut wildlife license plate, the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection website states.
“A wildlife license plate allows drivers to publicly display their support for Connecticut’s wildlife with some eye catching art work….. Both species are representative of CT D.E.E.P ‘s efforts to protect Connecticut’s wildlife.”
A greenway license plate is also a choice on the CT. D.E.E.P website. Greenways are Connecticut’s hiking trails, bikeways, connecting corridors of state parks, forests, land trust lands, town open spaces etc.
Those of us who paid the extra fee at the time of registration to obtain a wildlife or greenways license plate might have assumed that we would be helping to support CT D.E.E.P ‘s Wildlife or Greenways efforts. Not so.
The additional fees go directly into Connecticut ‘s general fund with no preference on how they are spent –now a matter of a broken public trust . Connecticut legislators should make it a priority to formally designate those fees generated from the wildlife and greenway license plates to the CT D.E.E.P programs they were meant to support.
Until then when I look at the bobcat on my CT “Conserve Wildlife” license plate all I feel is disappointment and DUPED.
Ruth Cutler lives in Ashford.
I have a save the sound plate. Is it the same thing for this plate. Also. When you reregister having one of these designer plates. I believe you pay more as well.
We all have been and are being duped. Great word to describe my own sentiment. Even state employees have been duped into paying union dues but get unfunded pensions in return. Who would have believed the license plate fees would not go directly to protect wildlife? Apparently many of us. Until now.
Yet the state wants us to trust them with tolls.
This is a perfect example of why we cannot.
Welcome to the land of steady habits, where politicians bypass the “lock box” to divert/take money from the transportation fund and then cry for tolls to replace said stolen money.
And yet voters keep voting for these politicians. Go figure.
We all have been and are being duped. Great word to describe my own sentiment. Even state employees have been duped into paying union dues but get unfunded pensions in return. Who would have believed the license plate fees would not go directly to protect wildlife? Apparently many of us. Until now.
How sad that we have such DEVIOUS people in state government! Happy to see this come to light after all these YEARS of these special plates that we DO indeed pay more for! I’m not positive but I think Save the Sound plates were one of the first ones to be offered and the money for them was Said to be going into a special fund for the sound. Looks like maybe that never happened either!????
Hi Bob, a portion of the fee for the Preserve the Sound license plate still goes to the “Long Island Sound Fund.”
https://portal.ct.gov/DMV/Special-and-Vanity/Special-and-Vanity/Long-Island-Sound-License-Plates