A license plate that protects wildlife

The Watch for Wildlife license plate is available for purchase at all DMV locations in Oregon.

For more information about Oregon specialty license plates and how to get your own Watch for Wildlife plate, please visit DMV2U - Login (oregon.gov)

About the Plate

​As wildlife moves throughout their habitat for food, shelter, and to find mates, the roads and highways crisscrossing Oregon make that a dangerous and sometimes fatal journey. Almost 6,000 drivers in Oregon alone are involved in a collision with a deer, elk, bear, or other wildlife species each year.

Among Oregon Wildlife Foundation’s (OWF) priorities is reducing wildlife-vehicle collisions on our highways and roads. OWF is working with the Departments of Transportation and Fish & Wildlife to implement wildlife crossing projects throughout Oregon. Funding for these efforts comes partly from the sale of our Watch for Wildlife specialty license plate. To get yours, visit your local DMV or order online. 

Plate Design

The Watch for Wildlife specialty license plate features an icon of the American West, a mule deer, and Mt. Hood, synonymous with Oregon. A species already in decline, mule deer are further threatened by collisions with cars and trucks on busy Highways 97 and 20 as they migrate to and from their winter range in central Oregon.

Plate Concept Idea: Cidney Bowman

Graphic Designer: Shelley Crick

Mule deer Photo credit: Ryan Franklin

Cidney, Shelley, and Ryan all helped make the Watch for Wildlife license plate a reality. We greatly appreciate their contributions and support of this project!


Watch for Wildlife Frequently Asked Questions

  • Your purchase of the Watch for Wildlife (W4W) license plate voucher is a transaction between you and Oregon Wildlife Foundation (OWF). To qualify the plate for production OWF needed to sell a minimum of 3,000 vouchers and submit them to DMV with payment. That process was completed in the Fall of 2022.

    If your voucher is lost, stolen, or damaged, you must contact OWF for a replacement.

    Your purchase of the voucher is at your own risk and does not guarantee you to receive a Watch for Wildlife license plate.

    For more information see the following document (Voucher Information.)

  • Please refer to the DMV's different plate guide here.

  • Voucher purchasers will have already received a physical copy of their voucher from OWF in the mail. If you have not received it or have misplaced your voucher, please email us at watchforwildlife@myowf.org for a replacement. The W4W license plate has been available to voucher holders through DMV offices since May 2022.

  • Yes! Like most other Oregon license plates, the W4W plate may be customized for an additional fee. Applications for custom plates are currently being accepted by DMV. For more information please refer to the Oregon DMV website.

  • Yes! You are able to maintain your current custom configuration on a W4W plate for an additional fee. Applications for replacement custom plates are currently being accepted by DMV.

  • W4W plates are only available for passenger vehicles registered in the State of Oregon. Souvenir or sample plates are not available.

  • OWF has established the Watch for Wildlife Fund to receive monies from plate sale and renewal fees. After we’ve recovered the expenses associated with the operation of the voucher campaign, the Fund will support projects that help wildlife move safely around busy roads and between habitat patches.

    Here’s a breakdown of how a plate sale or renewal fee is allocated:

    $40 DMV plate fee surcharge to purchaser

    -$5 DMV fee

    =$35 to the Watch for Wildlife Fund

    -$3.50 OWF Fund administration fee

    =$31.50 for wildlife passage and habitat connectivity projects

  • We have a long-established grantmaking program and a Projects committee that reviews requests for funding. The Projects committee will determine how Watch for Wildlife Fund monies are awarded to potential projects using our grantmaking process.

  • The Foundation publishes press releases each year with information on Watch for Wildlife funded projects. Please see our Press page for more information.

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