When the Colorado legislature passed Senate Bill 09-175 in 2009, it gave the Rocky Mountain Raptor Program permission to be part of the "Respects Wildlife" license plate program. Our actions in procuring this designation were guided by the legislation and the Division of Motor Vehicles regulations. The DMV mandated that we use the “Respects Wildlife” plates, although we requested to use our own design. In the fall of 2009, another wildlife organization that benefits from the Respects Wildlife license plate program asked us to discontinue it, citing copyright violation. When we found out that there was a possible copyright claim, we immediately stopped giving out vouchers for the plates, and agreed to cooperate in an effort to sort out the problem.

We are working on a solution to help us put an end to this matter as quickly as possible. However, we have done nothing wrong, and we will vigorously defend ourselves in court.

While this situation is unfortunate, we are not allowing it to detract us from our mission of rescuing and rehabilitating orphaned, injured and sick birds of prey with the goal of releasing them, and encouraging the protection of raptors and the spaces where they live.

We want our supporters to know that not one dollar given to us for rehabilitation and education will be used in our legal defense, and RMRP supporters are already stepping up to help us to defray legal costs.

For more information, please contact Executive Director, Judy Scherpelz.