Travelers on New Hampshire’s roadways this summer have something new to watch for when they play the license plate game: the state’s popular Moose Plate program has added the letter “P” to plate combinations.
When the first Conservation Number Plates were issued in December 2000, the letter “C,” for “conservation,” was part of each standard five-digit number combination. As “C” plates sold out, the letter “H,” for “heritage,” replaced the “C.” This spring, the first plates with the letter “P,” for “preservation,” were issued.
Standard combination Moose Plates still include a stacked “C” for “Conservation” and “H” for “Heritage” next to the illustrated moose, which was designed by Granite State artist Jim Collins. New Hampshire’s motto “Live Free or Die” is also part of the plate’s design.
Funds from Moose Plate sales support a wide variety of conservation, heritage and preservation programs in New Hampshire, including planting wildflowers along New Hampshire highways, studying threatened plant and animal species, securing conservation easements and preserving publicly owned historic properties and artifacts.

Every dollar raised through the sales of Moose Plates goes directly to supporting designated programs. More than $20 million has been raised since the program began and projects in all 10 New Hampshire counties have benefitted from Moose Plate funds.
Moose Plates may be purchased at city and town clerks’ offices when registering a car or truck. The annual cost for a Moose Plate is $30; the first year requires a standard $8 plate purchase fee. Vanity Moose Plates and combination Moose / NH State Parks plates are also available for additional charges.
Fourth grade students from Holderness Central School started the idea for the Moose Plate program in 1993. Legislation establishing the program passed in 1998.
More information about the Moose Plate program is available at mooseplate.com as well as on Facebook and Twitter.