International Forest of Friendship

"The International Forest of Friendship is a living, growing memorial to the world history of aviation and aerospace. The Forest was a gift to America on her 200th birthday in 1976 from the City of Atchison, Kansas (the birthplace of Amelia Earhart); The Ninety-Nines (International Organization of Women Pilots), and the University of Kansas Forestry Extension.The Forest is nestled on a gentle slope overlooking Lake Warnock, on the outskirts of Atchison. It is made up of trees from all fifty states and thirty-five countries around the world where Honorees reside. There are trees from George Washington's Mount Vernon Estate, the Bicentennial American Spruce, a tree from Amelia's grandfather's farm, and the Moon Tree grown from a seed taken to the moon by Command Pilot Stuart Roosa on Apollo 14. This latter tree honors the 17 astronauts who gave their lives in America's pioneering of space exploration. In 2003 a monument near the tree was dedicated to the seven astronauts lost on Columbia Shuttle."