Editing Neches River (section)

==Untamed river==
[[File:Trees at Big Thicket National Preserve.jpg|thumb|left|Bald cypress (''[[Taxodium distichum]]''), Big Thicket National Preserve]]
With the exception of dams and manmade lakes, much of the river is in a natural state. Approximately 11 miles of the upper Neches flows through the [[Neches River National Wildlife Refuge]], established to protect the biologically diverse bottomland hardwood forest and habitat for [[migratory birds]], and opened to the public as recently as 2019.<ref>U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service: [https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Neches_River/ Neches River National Wildlife Refuge]</ref> Downstream, the river delineates the eastern border of [[Davy Crockett National Forest]] including more than nine miles of the [[Big Slough Wilderness|Big Slough Wilderness Area]] of the National Forest.<ref name="Fritz (1993)">Fritz, Edward C. (1993) Realms of Beauty: A Guide to the Wilderness Areas of East Texas, revised edition. University of Texas Press, Austin. 120 pp. {{ISBN|0-292-72479-9}}</ref> Further downstream the Neches defines much of the southern border of [[Angelina National Forest]] including roughly four miles of the [[Upland Island Wilderness|Upland Island and Longleaf Pine Wilderness Area]] of Angelina National Forest.<ref name="Fritz (1993)" /> The Angelina Neches/Dam B Wildlife Management Area is situated at the confluence of the Neches and Angelina Rivers protecting 12,636 acres of the river's floodplain and bottomland, administered by the [[Texas Parks and Wildlife Department]] along with the adjacent [[Martin Dies Jr. State Park]] on the eastern side of Lake B. A. Steinhagen.<ref>Texas Parks and Wildlife Department: [https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/hunt/wma/find_a_wma/list/?id=27 Angelina Neches/Dam B Wildlife Management Area]</ref> South of the Lake, beginning at Town Bluff Dam and running 56 miles south to Beaumont, is the Neches River Corridor Unit of the [[Big Thicket National Preserve]], administered by the [[National Park Service]]. The Big Thicket National Preserve is recognized as a [[biosphere reserve]] by [[UNESCO]], preserving an area where several [[ecosystems]] converge. The Big Thicket Visitor Center is off [[U.S. Highway 69]] several miles north of [[Kountze]], Texas.

Beginning in 2006, the [[United States Fish and Wildlife Service]] purchased land along the Neches River for the creation of the [[Neches River National Wildlife Refuge]]. The refuge includes land on which the city of [[Dallas]] had proposed to build a [[reservoir]] to meet the water needs of the city and its surrounding [[Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex|suburbs]]. Tentatively named Lake Fastrill, this reservoir was not scheduled to be built until 2050. The city of Dallas and the Texas Water Development Board filed a lawsuit in 2007 against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, claiming the wildlife refuge was established without considering the economic and environmental impacts.  However, in February 2010 the [[United States Supreme Court]] ruled in favor of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, paving the way for the acquisition of lands for the wildlife refuge.

The [[Lower Neches Valley Authority]] is the river authority which oversees the Neches River in [[Tyler County, Texas|Tyler]], [[Hardin County, Texas|Hardin]], [[Liberty County, Texas|Liberty]], [[Chambers County, Texas|Chambers]], and [[Jefferson County, Texas|Jefferson]] counties of Texas.