Gopher Tortoise License Plate

Your pre-sale voucher for the license plate will be linked to either your current Florida license plate number or Florida Driver’s License number in the State of Florida’s vehicle registration system. If you purchased the voucher for someone else, it will be held under the recipient’s name and driver’s license number. You will not receive a physical voucher or email confirmation to present; you will simply recite your information to the tax collector’s office clerk.

You can redeem your pre-sale voucher once the Protect the Gopher Tortoise license plates are available at your local tax collector’s office or tag agency. Depending on the tag agency that you contact, there may be the option of renewing your voucher online or over the phone. We strongly recommend calling your tax collector’s office or tag agency in advance of visiting in person to ensure that they have the Protect the Gopher Tortoise license plates in stock.

Please be sure to bring proof of Florida insurance when redeeming your voucher.

No, you can redeem your voucher at any time once the plates have been distributed to your local tax collector’s office or tag agency. You can request the new specialty license plate at the time of renewal or as an on-demand license plate replacement. However, switching to your new specialty plate at the time of renewal may incur lesser fees.

If your information has changed since registering on our website for your pre-sale voucher, you will simply need to provide the tax collector’s clerk with your full name and date of birth when redeeming your voucher. This will allow them to find you in their system and access the voucher that you have been assigned.

If you have been assigned multiple presale vouchers (this could be the case if you purchased a voucher for yourself and were also gifted one, etc.), you will be able to apply the additional voucher(s) to cover future renewal costs associated with the specialty license plate. Another option is to redeem two vouchers at once by renewing for a two-year period rather than just one year.

Yes. Whenever a new license plate is issued, a new decal will be issued with it (regardless of tag renewal timing/status).

No, your pre-sale voucher for the Protect the Gopher Tortoise license plate never expires, providing flexibility as to when you would like to redeem it.

Once you have switched to the Protect the Gopher Tortoise license plate, the total yearly renewal cost (or specialty plate fee) will be $33 ($25 which is donated to Wildlands Conservation for gopher tortoise conservation), State of Florida processing fee ($5) and the Service/Branch fee ($3).

You will still need to pay your normal registration fees as outlined by your local tax collector’s office. Please visit https://www.flhsmv.gov/fees/ for information on motor vehicle registration fees.

No. The Protect the Gopher Tortoise license plates will have their own range of configurations. You will only receive the same license plate number if you currently have a personalized license plate with 5 characters (a left design plate), and request to transfer these characters onto your new plate. Please be aware that it may take an additional 10–12 weeks to receive a personalized plate.

You can request a personalized license plate when you redeem your voucher. Please note that left design plates (like the gopher tortoise plate) may only have up to 5 characters. Please be aware that it may take an additional 10–12 weeks to receive a personalized plate.

Visit https://services.flhsmv.gov/mvcheckpersonalplate/ to verify that a proposed personalized plate configuration is available.

Yes. The following vehicles cannot obtain a specialty plate: commercial trucks required to have front and rear plates, truck tractors, government vehicles, and commercial trucks with a gross vehicle weight of 26,001 pounds or greater. At this time, Protect the Gopher Tortoise license plates cannot be issued as a motorcycle or international wheelchair symbol (disability) plate.

Specialty license plates have been an essential part of the conservation strategy for other Florida species including the manatee, Florida panther, and sea turtles, and we wish to add the gopher tortoise to this list.

The gopher tortoise is a threatened species in the state of Florida, primarily due to the loss of upland habitat. A keystone species, gopher tortoises dig burrows that are used by more than 360 other animal species, including some that live nowhere else.

Inspired by wildlife rehabber Chelsey Vowles, the idea for the plate formed after she witnessed countless gopher tortoises being killed and injured while trying to cross the road. Chelsey’s passion for healing and helping tortoises was the spark necessary to get the license plate started.

The annual use fees from the sale of the plate will be distributed to Wildlands Conservation to fund gopher tortoise and commensal species research, education, and conservation, as well as upland habitat protection, restoration, and management in Florida to benefit the gopher tortoise and other upland species. Wildlands Conservation will use and distribute the funds to eligible Florida-based scientific, conservation, and educational organizations for gopher tortoise, commensal species, and upland habitat research, conservation, and management through a grants program.

Up to 10 percent of the funds received by Wildlands Conservation may be used for marketing of the plate and costs directly associated with the administration of the gopher tortoise license plate program.

Sure! In these cases, there are a couple of options:

1. You could order a sample plate. SAMPLE is printed as the characters on these license plates, and FLORIDA is spelled out on the top of the plate. These are not available at tax collector offices. The form to acquire one of these is from the Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles website, and is linked here. You can purchase a sample plate for a one-time fee of $28.

2. You could order a replica plate. “I♥GT” is printed as the characters on these license plates, and “Save the Uplands” is spelled out on the top of the plate instead of FLORIDA. These are not available at tax collector offices. If you would like to be notified once these replica plates are available, please fill out this email notification form.

The purpose of specialty license plates is to raise funds for a particular cause. The use of a specialty license plate is a voluntary purchase and can be discontinued at any time.

No, pre-sale vouchers are non-refundable and non-transferable.

You sure can! Ask your dealer to order the specialty Protect the Gopher Tortoise plate for your car when completing the title and registration paperwork. You’ll be given a temporary tag to display until you receive your new tag by mail.

Yes you can! You can do this by visiting your county tax collector’s office and requesting to purchase a license tag gift certificate (specifically for the Protect the Gopher Tortoise license plate) to give to your recipient. Click to learn more about the gift certificate program.

Florida has more than 120 specialty license tags, so it can be difficult to find the Protect the Gopher Tortoise tag among them. Just tell the clerk you would like to have the Protect the Gopher Tortoise license plate!

Upon approval by the Florida Legislature, a new specialty plate is required to sell a minimum number of reservations or vouchers. This process ensures that there is sufficient interest to warrant the manufacture of the plate. For many new plates, including the Protect the Gopher Tortoise plate, that pre-sale number is 3,000. Once 3,000 vouchers have been sold, the license plate may then be submitted to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV) for production. Thanks to your support, we have completed this step and sold over 3,000 vouchers for the Protect the Gopher Tortoise plate!

The artwork for the Protect the Gopher Tortoise License Plate was created by Matt Patterson. See more of his work here: https://www.mpattersonart.com/

For each pre-sale voucher that is redeemed, funding to support gopher tortoise conservation efforts will be released to Wildlands Conservation. Although we have secured enough interest to produce the Protect the Gopher Tortoise plate as an official specialty license plate in Florida, the state routinely delists specialty license plates with the fewest registrations. Please help us keep the Protect the Gopher Tortoise license plate program alive and well by redeeming your voucher and continuing to renew your specialty plate annually or biennially!

By continuing to renew your specialty license plate and spreading the word to family and friends, you are ensuring that funding is continually being set aside for gopher tortoise conservation. You can help us spread the word about the Protect the Gopher Tortoise license plate by sharing this Gopher Tortoise License Plate Flyer or purchasing a shirt through Bonfire! 

You can also stay up to date and share about the plate with your network by following us on social media:

Instagram: @wildlandsconservation

Facebook: Wildlands Conservation

LinkedIn: Wildlands Conservation, Inc.