Ruffner Mountain Featured In New Book

BIRMINGHAM, AL — Birmingham's Ruffner Mountain is the focus of a new book by Alabama Power's Mark Kelly. The book, "Back to Nature," tells the long story of the mountain's history and the efforts to preserve it.

In a feature by Alabama NewsCenter, Kelly said the idea to write the book began more than 10 years ago.

"You have the geological history of the mountain where you have two of the three ingredients: iron ore and limestone, that made Birmingham ‘Birmingham,'" Kelly said. "There is the mining history which ties into the history of Birmingham and some of the personalities and events that were involved with that, which is a pretty fascinating story by itself, and then this place sat dormant for the better part of 40 years until the advent of Ruffner Mountain Nature Center. It started with 28 acres and today it’s over 1,000 acres — one of the largest urban nature preserves in the country. It’s a great story from a lot of angles."

Kelly said when Carlee Sanford was hired as executive director of Ruffner Mountain in 2015, research for the book took on the momentum it needed to be completed.

"When I started at Ruffner, I was told during the first week that we had to finish this book," Sanford said. "I didn’t know if we would ever finish it because I didn’t know what it was, and now it’s this beautiful piece that Ruffner will have long after me."

More than 1,040 acres are under the management of The Ruffner Mountain Nature Coalition, making it one of the largest privately-funded nonprofit nature preserves in the country. Visitors can hike more than 14 miles of trails winding through the former limestone quarry and mine land, observing a diverse array of distinct natural plant communities and wildlife habitats.

Kelly’s book will officially launch Sept. 4 at 5 p.m. during a book signing at Alabama Booksmith. A second signing will be held at the Ruffner Mountain Nature Center Sept. 19 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Kelly and photographer Bob Farley will attend both events.

The book also is available at the Ruffner Mountain Nature Center and at RuffnerMountain.org., as well as other local bookstores. For more information, visit RuffnerMountain.org.