Civic Plaza Moon Tree

Albuquerque, New Mexico

A Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) Moon Tree was planted on April 7, 1976 in the Civic Plaza in Albuquerque. The 28-inch tall seedling was the first of New Mexico's Moon Trees planted, in a ceremony with bagpipes and a speech by Senator Pete Domenci.

In the 1990s the tree, some 30 feet high at the time, was carefully dug up, balled, and stored to protect it during the remodeling of the Civic Plaza. The intention was to replant the tree, but unfortunately it did not survive the procedure, and died sometime around the completion of the remodeling in 1996.

New Mexico apparently received five Moon Trees in 1976, two Douglas firs and three sycamores. One Douglas fir seedling was the one planted April 7 in the Civic Plaza in Albuquerque. The other Douglas fir, of about the same size, was planted on the state capitol grounds on 22 July. A sycamore was planted in Smokey Bear State Park on May 15, 1976. Another sycamore was planted at the International Space Hall of Fame in Alamogordo on October 5. The location of the other sycamore is in Silver City, New Mexico, planted August 15 in Gough Park. The sycamores in Alamogordo and Smokey Bear State Park are known to have died, as has the Douglas fir in Albuquerque. The status of the other two trees in not definitively known. For more information, see the individual tree pages and Moon Trees in New Mexico from the New Mexico State Records Center and Archive.

Are New Mexico's moon trees still alive? - KOAT 7 News, 19 July 2019
New Mexico's 'moon trees' planted after Apollo 14 are lost - AP News, 23 July 2019
Moon Trees in New Mexico - New Mexico State Records Center and Archives

Other New Mexico Moon Trees

Alamogordo - International Space Hall of Fame
Capitan - Smokey Bear Park
Santa Fe - Capitol Building
Silver City - Gough Park

NASA Official: Dave Williams, david.r.williams@nasa.gov
Last Updated: 09 February 2022, DRW