Recipients Announced for 2012 North Carolina Appalachian Trail License Plate Grants

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) announced yesterday the recipients of this year’s North Carolina Appalachian Trail (A.T.) License Plate grants for projects which enhance the Appalachian National Scenic Trail in North Carolina. $35,000 was granted this spring to twelve individuals and partner organizations including Trail clubs, schools, botanists and ecologists, environmental & conservation groups, and civic organizations. Overall, A.T. specialty license plate sales in North Carolina bring the ATC about $120,000 each year.

This year’s recipients are the Baatany Goat Project, East Tennessee State University (in regards to two botanical research projects), Friends of the Smokies, Hot Springs Tourism, Nantahala Hiking Club, Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy, Southern Appalachian Raptor Research, SouthEast Ecological Design, Summit Charter School, Tennessee Eastman Hiking & Canoeing Club, and The Wilderness Society’s Southern Appalachian Wilderness Stewards.

This grant program is funded by drivers who purchase and renew their North Carolina A.T. specialty license plates. Twenty dollars from each license plate is returned to the ATC to support its work in the state. This money is used to fund the grant program, for A.T. greenway acquisition, and to help support the work of the Southern Regional Office of the ATC in Asheville, North Carolina.

Specialty license plates for the A.T. are a way to support the ATC in its work to sustain the Trail into the future. A.T. specialty license plates are currently offered in Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Georgia.

For more information about the ATC license tag program visit www.appalachiantrail.org/plates.


Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com