Richard Donovan

Region: Piney Woods

Topics: Wildlife, Habitat, Neches River, History, Education

 
Mr. Donovan worked in the timber and real estate industry, and, as time has passed, has volunteered more and more of his time to preserve the habitat and way of life that he knew growing up in Zavalla and other parts of east Texas. He has become concerned about the damming of rivers, conversion of forests to plantations, and fragmentation of habitat in east Texas.  In recent years, his chief focus has been on securing protection for the free-flowing reaches of the Neches River, which are threatened by impoundment at Fastrill and Rockland Reservoirs.  Towards that goal, he has twice boated extended lengths of the Neches, writing about the effort in "Paddling the Wild Neches", and promoting his concerns through work with the non-profits, Friends of the Neches and the Texas Conservation Alliance, and in  visits with print and electronic media.  In 2006, these efforts paid off in creation of the 25,000-acre Neches River National Wildlife Refuge by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, with supporting land acquisition work by the Conservation Fund.