Winooski Valley Park District

Mission: To plan, acquire, and manage lands and waters within the boundaries of its member municipalities in the Winooski River Valley for purposes of conservation, preservation of natural areas, establishment of parks, and resource-based education and recreation.

The WVPD is a public non-profit that manages one of the largest systems of urban natural areas in Vermont (WVPD,2012).  Since it’s founding in 1972, the WVPD has acquired over 1700 acres of land in the Winooski Valley (WVPD, 2012).  The WVPD has developed picnic facilities, hiking trails, public garden plots, canoe accesses, fishing accesses and educational programs.  This collaboration of towns has helped to conserve nearly 13 miles of shoreline (Lake Champlain, Winooski River, Colchester Pond and the Browns River) and developed nearly 24 miles of hiking trails.  The WVPD has worked with individual towns, the Vermont Land Trust, the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and private landowners to acquire and conserve a variety of habitats within the Winooski River watershed.

The Winooski Valley Park District (WVPD) is a cooperative partnership of seven member communities who share a common interest in protecting natural resources in the Winooski River Valley. Today the WVPD manages 18 parks and natural areas with over 1,750+ acres of conserved land within the boundaries of it member municipalities. The WVPD seven member communities are Burlington, Colchester, Essex, Jericho, South Burlington, Williston and Winooski