The Pollinator Paradise Plate is now available at Oregon DMV offices!
Pollinator Paradise
Featuring two of Oregon’s most iconic bees, the managed honey bee and the wild yellow-faced bumble bee, the Pollinator Paradise License Plate is designed to showcase the unique Oregon landscape of natural areas, agricultural fields, and backyard gardens that help support the state’s over 600 species of bees. The plate design centers around a field of red clover – a majestic sight that can be found dotting the rolling hills of Oregon’s Willamette and Grande Ronde valleys. Oregon produces over a quarter of the U.S. supply of red clover seed. Both managed and wild bees pollinate this crop. The nectar and pollen, in turn, is a key food source for bees. This same interrelationship can be seen in every corner of the state, in coastal cranberry bogs, Rogue Valley pear orchards, high desert carrot seed fields, Columbia River Gorge sweet cherry orchards and Hermiston melon fields.
Want Your Own?
The plates are currently available at Oregon DMV.
Support from Oregonians such as yourself will help safeguard Oregon bees now and in the future!
About the Artist
Marek Stanton is a high school student at Summit Learning Charter School in Estacada Oregon. In addition to a lifelong love of art and color Marek is also a skilled entomologist and the youngest member of the Master Melittologist Program at Oregon State University.
Read more about Marek and learn more about how Oregon's first pollinator license plate came to be.
Why Pollinator Health Matters:
Oregon's gardens, agricultural lands, high deserts, natural areas, and forests are home to roughly 600 species of bees. These bees are vital to the world around us and to the state’s economy. Research at Oregon State University focuses on the role we can play to protect these all-important organisms. Your purchase of a "Pollinator Paradise" license plate will help us safeguard Oregon bees now and into the future!
Did You Know Oregon is a Leader Nationally When it Comes to Bee Research?
- First-of-its-kind native bee survey seeking out new species and which plants they rely on (Oregon Bee Atlas).
- World leading lab investigating how to optimize honey bee nutrition.
- Collaborative research with beekeepers and growers to minimize impacts of pesticides on bees during pollination.
- Dedicated research to help landscapers and gardeners improve bee habitat in urban areas.
- On-the-ground applied research to make it easier for farmers, ranchers, and forest managers to create bee habitat on private and public lands.
Oregonians Love Their Bees and Want Others To Do the Same!
- The Pollinator Health Extension Program leads the nation in training pesticide applicators on proper use of products to keep bees safe.
- The Extension Service has several advanced programs to train volunteers in beekeeping (Master Beekeepers), public outreach and education (Pollinator Advocates), habitat stewardship (Bee Stewards Program) and native bee survey (Master Mellitologists Program).
- A unique program through OSU’s Food Hero program to provide resources about bees to school aged children.
Funds From License Plate Sales Will Directly Support:
- The identification of bee species found across the state and throughout the Pacific Northwest
- Research into how to keep honey bee stocks healthy
- A greater number of graduate students focusing on the study of bees
- Increased capacity in Oregon to tackle the big picture issues bees face
Frequently Asked Questions
- Head to any Oregon DMV office to pick up your Pollinator Paradise plate.
In addition to regular title, registration, and plate fees, the specialty pollinator plate has a $40 surcharge due when you first order the plate and at each registration renewal. The surcharge is the same amount for four-year or two-year registration periods. Additionally, you will need to pay a one-time plate fee and plate replacement fee.
More information on DMV fees is available on the DMVs website.
Yes! Like other Oregon license plates, the pollinator plate may be customized for an additional DMV charge. You can apply for custom plate configurations at:
https://www.oregon.gov/odot/forms/dmv/205fill.pdf
Yes, you can maintain your current custom 6-character configuration on a pollinator plate, for an additional DMV charge.
Souvenir plates are not available. Pollinator plates are only available with passenger vehicles registered in the State of Oregon.
Yes, each time you renew your plates you will be charged a $40 surcharge in additional to DMV’s regular renewal fees. Of this charge, $35 will go directly to support pollinator programs in the Horticulture Department at Oregon State University and $5 will be retained by the DMV.
We just completed an auction for the low numbers (BZ00001-BZ00020) and raised $27,000 for the "Jerry and Judith Paul Native Pollinator Endowment" and "NW Apiculture Endowment", whose mission is to support long term research at Oregon State University into wild bees and honey bees in Oregon. Those are the only plate numbers that we can pre-assign. When you pick up a plate at DMV you will be issued which ever number they have in their local inventory.
Helping the Honey Bee at the Honey Bee Lab
In the News:
Oregon Field Guide
OSU
- New OSU volunteer program tackles statewide native bee inventory
- 25 plants for attracting native bees to the garden
- New Oregon Bee Project plans activities for National Pollinator Week
Other News
Pollinator Partnerships
- Pollinator Health Lab
- OSU Honey Bee Lab, with a spotlight on the volunteers of the Master Beekeeper Program
- Garden Ecology Lab, with a spotlight on the volunteers of the Master Gardener program
-
Oregon Bee Atlas
- Atlas findings (iNaturalist interactive maps)
- Master Melittologist Program