Former cavalry officer and Medal of Honor recipient Theodore Roosevelt understood peace could be found in the American wild.

“There are no words that can tell the hidden spirit of the wilderness, that can reveal its mystery, its melancholy and its charm,” the two-term president once said.

And beginning today — Veterans Day — veterans and Gold Star families are now able to spend time in that peaceful, spirited wilderness free of charge in large swathes of America’s National Parks and other U.S. Department of Interior-managed lands.

“With the utmost respect and gratitude, we are granting veterans and Gold Star families free access to the iconic and treasured lands they fought to protect starting this Veterans Day and every single day thereafter,” Interior Secretary David Bernhart said in late October when the program was announced.

At around 2,000 different locations in about 400 millions acres of public land, entrance fees for the National Parks and U.S Fish and Wildlife Services and standard amenity recreation fees with Bureaus of Land Management and Reclamation will be waived for veterans and Gold Star families, according to an Interior Department press release.

“These special places pay tribute to our veterans and serve as reminders of their courage and sacrifice throughout the history of our nation, from Minuteman National Historic Park where colonists stood in defense of their rights, to Yellowstone National Park, which was protected from vandalism and poaching by the 1st U.S. Cavalry before the National Park Service was established, to Mount Rushmore where modern warriors attend reenlistment ceremonies,” the press release states.

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The formal order announcing the program defines veterans as “those individuals who have served in the United States Armed Forces, including the National Guard and Reserves” and are able to show at least one of the following forms of identification:

And Gold Star families are defined as the “eligible next of kin of a member of the United States Armed Forces who lost his or her life in a ‘qualifying situation,’ such as a war, an international terrorist attack, or a military operation outside of the United States while serving with the United States Armed Forces.”

People board a shuttle in Zion National Park in 2016. | Spenser Heaps, Deseret News

A “recreation pass” for veterans and Gold Star families was in the works, according to order, but did not appear to be available yet on the Recreation.gov website where similar passes are managed.

“Our nation is deeply indebted to those who have served our nation as well as those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service to their country, and the loved ones they have left behind,” Bernhart wrote in his order to the Interior Department.

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