| Ruffner Mountain Nature Preserve | |
| Map: | Alabama |
| Location: | Birmingham, Alabama |
| Coords: | 33.5595°N -86.7074°W |
| Area: | 1038acres[1] |
| Established: | 1977 |
| Manager: | Ruffner Mountain Nature Coalition, Inc. |
Ruffner Mountain Nature Preserve is a 1038acres nature preserve located in the eastern portion of Jefferson County, Alabama, in the City of Birmingham's historic South East Lake neighborhood. The preserve includes a visitor center containing native Alabama animals including raptors, snakes, turtles, and owls.[2] [3] The Ruffner Mountain area was home to iron ore mines and stone quarries, supplying the area's steel mills.
The preserve contains more than of hiking trails.[2]
In 1883, William Henry Ruffner, a professor at Roanoke College who had served as Virginia's first superintendent of public instruction and who had trained as geologist at Washington & Lee University,[4] and John L. Campbell completed a survey for the Georgia Pacific Railway from Atlanta to the Mississippi River, including the Birmingham District.
When the mines were finally shut down in the 1950s, nature reclaimed the area. 1977 marked the beginning of the Ruffner Mountain Nature Coalition, a nonprofit that leased 28 acres of land belonging to the City of Birmingham for protection and preservation. The Trust for Public Land added over 500acres to the preserve from 1983 to 1985, and an additional 400acres in 2000 under Alabama's Forever Wild program.[2]
In 2010, construction was completed on RMNC's state-of-the-art LEED certified Treetop Visitor's Center and Education Pavilion. The new 6000square feet nature center replaced the organization's old administrative office building, visitor's center, and pavilion. The contractor, Stewart Perry, Inc., and architect, KPS Group, designed a building using sustainable architecture and materials ranging from a rainwater collection system to a myriad of recycled building materials and furnishings.[2] [5] [6]