We extend our heartfelt thanks to the Harman family for their generous donation of 25 acres on Monte Sano Mountain and for sharing a deeply personal blog post that highlights their family’s long-standing connection to this land and the meaningful role it has played in their lives. Located adjacent to the eastern boundary of Monte Sano State Park, this remarkable property expands the protected landscape across the mountain and strengthens the long-term conservation of one of our region’s most cherished natural areas.
The following blog post was written and submitted by Inge Maria Harman and family.
The Harman family’s connection to the property we have donated to the Land Trust of North Alabama began in 1950. This property forms part of an important network of protected land on Monte Sano Mountain. The 25 acres of forested slopes is classic upland hardwood forest with minimal invasive species that serves as essential habitat for native plants and animals. The property is accessed from Dug Hill Road and extends to the west up towards the boundary with Monte Sano State Park. The lower slopes of the property, those closer to Dug Hill Road, were held and worked as a small family farm before 1950. The higher slopes closer to the park were protected woodlands. At the time that our father, Harlan Harman, purchased the property, it boasted a small, white clapboard four-room home, a detached garage, a small barn and chicken coop, and a nearby pond. The property’s previous owners were the Hall family, long-time residents of the area who lived and farmed there until selling the land and house to our family.
Photo from recently donated Harman property.
Our father, who had grown up working as a farmer and rancher with his father in west central Texas, was interested in keeping the farm operational, even though he was working full-time as part of the von Braun team at Redstone Arsenal some distance from the farm. Our father, with the help of our mother, Inge Kathe Harman, kept cows, pigs, and chickens during our first years in Alabama living on the farm. Our dad kept a milk cow and raised and sold the calves to local farmers. The chickens provided our family with eggs and meat.
As the demands on our dad’s time grew due to the responsibilities of his job as an aerospace engineer at Redstone, he gradually sold the animals and stopped farm operations. The farm activities were always limited to the lower part of the property near Dug Hill Road. The wooded lands on the slopes behind the farm, which is the property that our family has donated to the Land Trust of North Alabama, were never utilized in farm operations during the 75 years they were owned by our family. They may have been subject to light logging operations by the previous owners.
Our older brother, William Max Harman, was two years old when our family moved to the farm on Dug Hill Road. Max grew up playing in the barn and by the pond and in the woods that extended for acres and acres up the slopes behind the house and barn. Max loved the outdoors and taught us all to love it, too. As he got older, he led his sisters and his mother and even his grandmother out to explore the wonders of nature, especially the beautiful woodlands up near the boundary with Monte Santo State Park.
Photo of William Max Harman.
Max encountered interesting creatures of all kinds there, including rattlesnakes, copperheads, and all sorts of birds and amphibians. He became interested in ornithology when he was still very young and worked with neighbors who were experts in birding. He learned how to safely catch and band birds while still a teenager. He also became active in scouting. He learned how to tent and camp and survive in the woods and to do this without damaging the ecosystem. Max eventually studied zoology and environmental science at Auburn University and, after his service in the army, marriage and fatherhood, he returned to school and earned his Bachelor of Science in zoology from Auburn.
Max worked for years at the Huntsville Botanical Garden during the time when it was first being established. He also worked at Huntsville High School and was instrumental in running the Biology Department’s field trips. Max loved being on the water as much as the land and was a dedicated kayaker, serving as a judge in the 1996 Olympic canoe and kayaking events on the Ocoee River. Max was also active as a musician, playing trombone and baritone in several community and church orchestras and ensembles in Huntsville. Because of his love of and interest in nature and wildlife, Max made a big impact on the children that he taught, especially, of course, his own children, but also on many other young people through his years of volunteer work as a Scoutmaster. In later years, he also worked on wildlife rescue and rehabilitation projects with his sister, Huntsville veterinarian Dr. Delia B. Harman.
Because this land that we have donated, which has now become part of the Land Trust of North Alabama, was so formative in Max’s life and was the environment that first opened his eyes to the wonders of nature, we, his loving sisters, Delia Berti Harman and Inge Maria Harman, want to dedicate this donation to Max and to have the land and forest be protected in his name. We are supported in this donation by all the members of our families, including Max’s children, William Hill Harman, Sara Harman Vines, Hannah Harman Carter, and by their mother, Linda English Harman, as well as by Max’s nieces, Margaret Cordelia Rasnake and Julia Christiana Rasnake, and by our spouses, Roger Rasnake and Jeffrey Simson.