Welcome to The Ned Fritz Legacy: An Online Biography. In this ebook presented as a website, you will be able to discover a great deal about the life and achievements of Ned Fritz, including the vital role played by his wife, Genie. Chapters will be coming online starting in fall 2022, with completion expected by late summer 2023
Ned was a man of many achievements, born of his love for nature, aided by his brilliant mind, savvy lawyer skills, and passion for mentoring. In his fight against clearcutting in national forests, he organized and rallied a national forest reform movement, shaping U.S. Forest Service policy for the better. He saved countless acres of rich bottomland forest as he pushed back against needless reservoirs. Big Thicket National Preserve might not have come to be if not for Ned. The same is true for thousands of acres of East Texas wilderness.
But Ned also cared deeply for the nature of Dallas, where he and Genie raised their family. He took on huge business and government interests that planned to channelize vast stretches of the Trinity River into a barge canal. In the process, much of the Great Trinity Forest, including its rare grove of Texas buckeye trees, would have been devastated. When similar interests lobbied to build a tollway in the Trinity floodplain, he took on them as well. Wherever nature needed defending, Ned was there. His influence was wide and deep, and his range of admirers was quite surprising.
In this website, you’ll learn about more than Ned’s achievements. You’ll get to know Ned as a man. He possessed a sly sense of humor, was kind even to opponents, cared deeply about human welfare, and loved his wife and daughters tremendously. Ned was always up for an adventure, even if he and his compatriots barely escaped from some of them. He enjoyed singing and possessed a beautiful bass voice, often serenading his adored grandchildren.
Many nature places you experience would not exist without Ned. You’ll appreciate learning about this remarkable man who made the world a much better—and greener—place.
Photo courtesy the Fritz family.