Ruffner Mountain is a natural urban greenspace in the heart of Birmingham, Alabama, with 1,038 acres of unique geology, beautiful views, and remnants of the area's rich mineral mining history. Our story begins in 1977, when an intrepid grassroots community movement banded together to form the Ruffner Mountain Coalition in order to protect the mountain from a land developer planning to build an apartment complex on the site. Kathy Freeland, then president of the Ruffner Mountain Coalition, along with residents from south East Lake, members of the Birmingham Humane Society, and the Vulcan Trail Association, founded the Coalition not only in reaction to the possible land development, but also to preserve the mountain itself and the myriad native species of flora and fauna that live there, to provide educational programs for kids and adults, and to create a wildlife rehabilitation center. Other members of that first Coalition were Andy Smith (then president of the south East Lake neighborhood group), Gary Collier, Tom Lamb Jr., Frank Dawson, Rodney Hale, Jimmie White, Joan Dawson, and Emily Hobbs, among others. Through the eighties, nineties, and into the 21st century, Ruffner has continued to grow and expand to its current size of over a thousand acres. We owe the pioneers of the original Ruffner Mountain Coalition a debt of gratitude and thank them for preserving the beautiful, enriching, and vital world that is Ruffner Mountain for this generation and all to come.
