License plate sales in Hawai'i have raised $60,000 for a Nēnē Monitoring Program at Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. The donation was made by the Hawai'i Pacific Parks Association/HPPA
License plate sales in Hawai'i have generated $60,000 for the Nēnē Monitoring Program at Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park.
The Nēnē Monitoring Program at the park evaluates monitoring strategy and completes a monitoring protocol report.
Perhaps 25,000 nēnē existed in Hawai`i when Captain Cook arrived in 1778, according to the National Park Service. By the mid-1940s, only 50 birds remained. In the 1970s, Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park began a captive nēnē breeding and reintroduction program. National park staff use a variety of techniques to improve nēnē breeding success: controlling predators in nesting habitat, mowing pastures, closing sensitive brooding areas to the public, and maintaining predator-resistant enclosures in which free-flying birds can rest, feed, or nest.
The specialty license plates in Hawaiʻi were authorized by a 2015 state law to raise funds for resource protection and education projects at Hawai‘i Volcanoes and Haleakalā national parks. The plates feature volcanic views of Kīlauea erupting, and rare native species like the nēnē (Hawaiian goose) and the Haleakalā silversword plant. Since its inception, the specialty license plate program has raised more than $600,000.
Other national parks that benefit from specialty license plate programs include Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Crater Lake National Park, and Yosemite National Park.
