For decades, the Greater Birmingham region has proven its passion for parks and greenspaces. Three great examples of our love for the great outdoors: Ruffner Mountain, Turkey Creek Nature Preserve, and Red Mountain Park.
Ruffner Mountain was saved from development in 1977 by a community nonprofit. Turkey Creek was preserved in 2008 by a grassroots effort and later operated by Birmingham-Southern College. In 1999 Garden Highlands resident Ervin Batain, in a community effort, cleared a trail from his backyard to the abandoned No.11 Mine on Red Mountain, founding what would eventually become Red Mountain Park in 2012 with the help of a state agency, the Red Mountain Greenway and Recreational Area Commission.
Through the years, individuals, governmental entities, organizations, and corporations wanting to support these greenspaces of Jefferson County had to pick and choose which large acreage greenspace would get the donor dollars they had to give.
But not anymore.
Ruffner Mountain, Turkey Creek Nature Preserve, and Red Mountain Park are now all managed by the Jefferson County Greenways Commission and Foundation.
“Jefferson County Greenways is the connective tissue for all greenspaces throughout Jefferson County,” says Fran Marks, who was selected to serve as superintendent for Jefferson County Greenways.
Under the Jefferson County Greenways organization are two entities: the Commission, which supports the day-to-day maintenance and operations of the three greenspaces, and the Foundation, which focuses on fundraising and helps support park programming, conservation, and capital improvements.
“When local entities work together, they can tackle challenges with greater efficacy, leveraging shared knowledge and expertise to address pressing issues,” Marks says.
The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham served as a strategic thought partner and funder through this transition. The Foundation supported Jefferson County Greenways with a $600,000 grant in 2022. The parks partnership aligns with the Community Foundation’s focus on regional cooperation in hopes of leading to more efficient and effective services and a more unified voice to advance economic growth.
Jefferson County Greenways: How It Started
“History proves our community’s desire to preserve valuable greenspaces,” Marks says pointing to the existence of Ruffner Mountain, Turkey Creek Nature Preserve, and Red Mountain Park as that proof.
“However, separate organizations managing each park created inefficiencies including competition for the same donations and grants, duplication of senior staff, siloed maintenance efforts, and different membership structures.”
In 2019, leaders at all three parks began working toward a solution – even though this meant that their roles would change.
Carlee Sanford, who was executive director of Ruffner Mountain, joined forces with T.C. McLemore, who was executive director of Red Mountain Park, to help push for the partnership.
“When we were doing this whole campaign for a year, both of us would say, ‘We may not have a job after this,’” Sanford says. “We would tell people that we were very aware of what we were doing.”
Sanford added that support from the Community Foundation went beyond the grant that the Foundation awarded to the Jefferson County Greenways.
“They actually picked up the phone and helped us fill in the gap,” Sanford said, explaining that the Foundation helped Jefferson County Greenways secure additional needed funds as well. “And it was more than just funding; they were also helping us figure out the best solutions.”
Sanford and McLemore also had the full support of Birmingham-Southern College, which managed the Turkey Creek Preserve.
“Just to see all of that cooperation, all of that collaboration, going on in the name of nature, in the name of preserving, protecting, and maintaining these spaces is phenomenal,” Marks says.
In 2023, legislation expanded the scope of the Red Mountain Greenway and Recreational Area Commission into the Jefferson County Greenways Commission, which now supports the day-to-day maintenance and operations of all three parks.
McLemore stepped down from his role (and is now executive director of outdoor recreation programs at Innovate Alabama) and Sanford is now executive director of the Jefferson County Greenways Commission.
In 2024, the separate boards of the parks voted to come together as the Jefferson County Greenways Foundation, which leads fundraising and supports educational programs, conservation, and capital improvements.
“Together, the public-private partnership cares for our county’s large greenspaces and all the plants, animals, and people they serve,” Marks says.
Jefferson County Greenways: How It’s Going
The Community Foundation considers the Jefferson County Greenways partnership one of the most successful regional cooperation efforts the Foundation has supported to date. The partners raised nearly $4 million to support the three-year transition period needed to get all the moving parts of this partnership moving in the right direction. More than half of that $4 million was from public sources. Last year, the parks partnership secured funding in the state budget and in Jefferson County’s budget and continues to make steady progress on consolidating operations of the three parks.
Meanwhile, the leaders of this partnership are settling into their new roles, facing the challenges head on while also embracing the advantages of this new structure.
“I’m walking through the woods at night,” Marks says with a laugh when asked about how he feels navigating his new role as superintendent.
Marks, who served in the U.S. Army for 25 years, came out of retirement to take on this position.
“This was an opportunity for me to come out and give back to the community,” he says. “I’m a native of Birmingham, I went to Fairfield High School and Miles College. I did ROTC at UAB, and I went to Lawson State for a stint. And being in the military, I spent a lot of time in the woods, so this was kind of an easy transition.”
He admits that switching from the rigid regimen of Army life to the more laid-back nature of a parks organization is taking some getting used to. But he says that being able to walk the trails of Red Mountain Park every day as part of his job, is a perk that can’t be beat.
Despite the merger, the parks are still working with limited personnel, with six people responsible for maintaining a total of 3,000 acres of greenspace.
Yet, the Jefferson County Greenways partnership means Marks doesn’t feel like he’s alone in this fight.
“We’re sharing equipment, we’re sharing ideas, we’re sharing personnel, and we do that all within the backdrop with understanding who we do it for – the kids and other people coming to visit the parks.”
Consolidating bank accounts and bookkeeping systems is just one of the many tedious behind-the-scenes tasks Sanford must manage as executive director of Jefferson County Greenways. But she’s confident the collaboration is worth the work. In fact, she hopes it serves as a catalyst for more partnerships within the region.
“We saw an opportunity to give an example, to be the domino, to show that it can work,” Sanford says. “Just because it has been done one way for over 40 years, doesn’t mean that’s the best way.”
Before the work of the Jefferson Country Greenways to change this, Jefferson County was the largest county in the country that didn’t have secured funding for parks in the state and county budgets.
This is what Jennifer Andress, chair of the Jefferson County Greenway Commission, points to as one of the partnership’s greatest accomplishments.
“I think we’re going to look back in 10 years and say, wow, this has been a game changer for the county,” Andress says.
Melva Tate, chair of the Jefferson Country Greenways Foundation, is excited to see what’s next. She believes the spirit of cooperation that birthed this collaboration will help it survive and thrive.
“I just applaud everyone putting personal feelings and egos aside and working well together,” she says.
In the coming months, Jefferson County Greenways will begin the work to help better inform the public about the collaboration, Tate says. This may include a social media campaign as well as a website that highlights all three greenspaces.
Marks is proud of all the programming the three parks offer to children and adults: classes on identifying venomous snakes, bird banding workshops, night hikes, habitat studies for high school students, and much more. And he sees the parks as spaces to help residents improve their mental and physical health.
Furthermore, a report by the Hoover Institution at Stanford University that was prepared for the Alabama Innovation Commission and released in 2021 found that greenspaces and outdoor recreation activities are great tools to help attract regional and national talent to the city and state.
This is one reason regional cooperation is so important, Marks says.
“A lack of regional cooperation, at the end of the day, it stifles the state’s growth. It’s everything from tourism, quality of life, and the ability to attract new talent.”
But with cooperation greenspaces can save money, streamline operations, enhance visitor experience, and work together to solve environmental issues.
“It’s not my park, it’s not your park, it’s not theirs and us; it’s our park,” Marks says. “These are our green spaces.”