More than 30,000 day passes to Vermont's state parks were given out this year under a new program that allowed low-income residents to get into the parks for free.

The nonprofit group Vermont Parks Forever started the program this year, and executive director Sarah Alberghini Winters said many of the participants were able to visit swimming areas during the summer that might otherwise have been inaccessible to them.

The most popular parks visited this year include Branbury State Park in Salisbury, Lake Shaftsbury, Crystal Lake State Park in Barton and Sand Bar State Park in Milton.

“A majority said that they wouldn’t have been able to visit the parks without this free access,” Alberghini Winters said. “And it was really wonderful to hear that the program is needed and getting used.”

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