Burlington hires rangers to oversee parks

BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) - Visitors to Burlington parks this summer will see something new -- park rangers.

The city will employ two full-time rangers, plus two seasonal ones for the summer. It’s being paid for as part of the City Council’s decision to reallocate funding from the police force. The rangers will be in parks educating and enforcing issues including parking regulations, glass bottle restrictions and loose dogs.

“Just helping to educate the community and being out there as a visual. You’ve got a question, you can recognize the rangers and that’ll be just one way we can help the community use our spaces safely,” said Cindi Wight with Burlington Parks, Recreation & Waterfront.

The new rangers will be working in conjunction with new Community Support Liaisons and Community Service Officers from the Burlington Police to make sure people are following the rules.

Related Stories:

Burlington Police work to revamp their response to mental health calls

Struggle continues to hire Burlington police, several community officers hired

Burlington Police Dept. assessment finds deficiencies, staffing issues, racial bias

Burlington ‘community support liaisons’ prepare to hit the streets

Weekend shooting incidents in Burlington raise new concerns over police staffing

Burlington officials say police defunding experiment will take time to yield results

Copyright 2022 WCAX. All rights reserved.