Interior Announces Veteran-Led Outdoor Events for Veterans Day Week, With a California Hatchery Tour Included
The U.S. Department of the Interior announced in Washington on November 5 that, in the week surrounding Veterans Day (November 11), it will host veteran-led outdoor recreation events on public lands and waters across the country, developed with partner agencies of the Federal Interagency Council on Outdoor Recreation (FICOR). A fish hatchery tour paired with a short riverside hike at the Nimbus Fish Hatchery in Cordova, California, is among them.
Alongside the events, Interior and its partners published a new repository on Recreation.gov, a single location where veterans, service members and military families can find information about outdoor recreation opportunities across participating federal agencies, rather than searching a dozen separate agency websites.
"Every American owes an enormous debt of gratitude to the brave men and women who have worn our nation's uniform and defended the freedoms we cherish. Those freedoms include the opportunity to explore and enjoy the incredible beauty of our great country," said Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum. He said he was especially grateful to Interior team members who served in uniform and are continuing their service by helping military families and fellow veterans experience the public lands.
FICOR Chair and Bureau of Land Management Director Stevan Pearce said the new collection highlights opportunities for veterans that already existed but were scattered across a dozen agency websites, and that FICOR is committed to making those opportunities easier to find.
Events announced include: in the Washington, D.C., area, a National Park Service walking tour of the war memorials around the National Mall and a guided birding walk through Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens in Anacostia; just outside Denver, Colorado, an accessible wildlife loop walk and visitor center program offered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge, a former Army arsenal; a veteran-led canyon hike hosted by the Bureau of Land Management at Grandstaff Canyon in Moab, Utah; and in California, a Bureau of Reclamation fish hatchery tour paired with a short riverside hike at the Nimbus Fish Hatchery in Cordova.
Additional events are planned at Interior sites including the Grand Canyon in Arizona, Pompeys Pillar National Monument in Montana, Steamtown National Historic Site in Pennsylvania and a Veterans Family Fishing Classic in Wyoming.
Interior said accessibility features served as a leading criterion for event sites, not an afterthought, with featured locations offering accessible boardwalks and paved routes, indoor and visitor-center alternatives and facility tours that do not depend on weather or terrain. People seeking the event nearest them can contact the department's veteran outdoor engagement initiative team.
(Source: U.S. Department of the Interior)
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：美国内政部长 Doug Burgum 2025年官方肖像。公共领域，美国内政部，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Official 2025 portrait of U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum. Public domain, U.S. Department of the Interior, via Wikimedia Commons.
