The bear is back: Alaska to again offer vehicle license plates featuring grizzlies
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}This undated photo provided by the Alaska Division of Motor Vehicles on Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2014, shows a new license plate available to Alaska drivers in 2015. The plate resembles an older version, which also featured a brown bear. (AP Photo/Alaska Division of Motor Vehicles) (The Associated Press)
Alaska drivers will have the choice of a retro look when they obtain new license plates next spring.
The state is bringing back plates that feature red lettering on white plates and a grizzly bear standing on its hind legs.
It's a reconfigured version of an Alaska license plate last issued in 1976, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner (http://bit.ly/1xvFQ16) reported.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Drivers can also choose the current style: yellow-gold plates with blue lettering that reflect colors of the Alaska flag.
The Alaska Legislature last session approved bringing back the bear plates in a bill sponsored by Rep. Rep. Peggy Wilson, R-Wrangell. House Bill 293 passed unanimously in the final days of the session.
Department of Motor Vehicles director Amy Erickson on Monday had a sample in hand of the new license plate. The makeover has added new colors.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The old grizzly plates had beige mountains and a brown bear. The new version features a darker bear, a silhouette of the Alaska Range, a gold sun between mountains and a blue sky.
"I like it," Erikson, noting that the final version may be tweaked.
"I also am not absolutely certain that I approve of the colors because they didn't come out just like our artist rendered them, but they look very nice," she said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The previous version was not without critics.
During the legislative session, an Anchorage resident emailed a picture of a standing woodchuck and urged that the designers to modify the bear image so there was less resemblance.
Erickson said there's no mistaking the image on the new license.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"It's still very much the bear," Erickson said. "And it looks more like a bear from a distance."
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Information from: Fairbanks (Alaska) Daily News-Miner, http://www.newsminer.com