Title: Francis J. Bouda Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1968-1976

Creator:

• Bouda, Francis J., 1921-

Call Number: Green Bay Mss 81

Quantity: 2.2 c.f. (1 record center carton and 3 archives boxes)

Repository:

Housed at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Archives and Area Research Center; owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

UW-Green Bay Cofrin Library / Green Bay Area Research Ctr. (Map)

Abstract:

Papers of Francis Bouda, a Wisconsin attorney who represented the Interstate Alternative Association, a group of farmers and environmentalists that unsuccessfully opposed the construction of an interstate highway between Milwaukee and Green Bay. Included are correspondence, handwritten notes, and reference files containing legal briefs, environmental impact statements, notes from town meetings, and clippings.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-gb0081

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Francis J. Bouda was born in Manitowoc, Wisconsin in 1921, and graduated in 1943 from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, with a degree in engineering. In 1948 he received a law degree from Temple University in Philadelphia. Following his education, Bouda practiced law in Philadelphia, and spent ten years living and working in Europe. He currently resides and practices law in Cleveland, Town of Centerville, Manitowoc County, Wisconsin. He is an international corporation lawyer specializing in property rights and patent law.

From 1973 to 1976, Bouda was a member of and served as legal counsel for the Intestate Alternative Association. The IAA was composed of farmers and environmentalists united in opposition to the construction of Interstate Highway 43 (I-43) between Milwaukee and Green Bay. The group was formally organized at a meeting held February 14, 1973 at Cleveland, and was headed by Edward Klessig and Norbert Orth. At that time the final designation of the highway, I-43, had not been determined, and the association was called the Stop I-57 Committee, or occasionally, the Stop-141 Committee. This group included several leaders of the original Stop I-57 Environmental Alliance, which in 1971 and 1972 had successfully stopped the attempt to construct the interstate along Highway 57 (the most direct route) and thus through the Kettle Moraine region. Both new and old opposition groups merged on February 26, 1973, under the name Stop I-57 Environmental Association. William Ford of Waldo served as president, and Bouda was involved in organizing and speaking at several community meetings in an effort to mobilize public opposition. He also researched and prepared the legal motions and briefs for the court case in opposition to the highway. Plaintiffs in the case of Ford vs. Train, included William Ford, Edward Klessig, Charles Buoc, Joseph Dworak, Francis Salm, and the Stop I-57 Environmental Association. On June 15, 1973, Federal Judge James Doyle denied the plaintiffs' request for a preliminary injunction to halt construction.

On April 5, 1974, the Department of Transportation officially designated I-43 as the name of the Milwaukee to Green Bay Interstate Highway to be built along the Highway 141 corridor. Opposition efforts continued in and out of the courts, and on February 1, 1975 the name of the group was changed to the Interstate Alternative Association. The group had about 100 to 120 members, who organized a protest walk from Sheboygan to Green Bay, March 21-24 1975, a beef and cheese sale in Sheboygan, and several public polls; they also lobbied legislators on the question. As part of their continuing protest, farmers brought several dairy cattle to the lawn of the state Capitol in Madison in April 1976. Despite these efforts, however, Governor Patrick Lucey gave final approval for construction of I-43 to begin in May 1976.

The collection contains attorney Bouda's material documenting both the Stop I-57 Environmental Alliance and the Interstate Alternative Association. Bouda's involvement with the highway opposition efforts is detailed in the correspondence and related material files; folders of general, handwritten notes; records of meetings; and notes from a trip to Washington, D.C. Much of the material regarding the environmental impact statements and other Wisconsin legal cases represents reference files maintained and used by Bouda in preparing the Association's legal challenges. Documenting the Ford vs. Train case of 1973-1974 are motions, briefs, opinions, orders, and exhibits. The efforts of the various highway opposition groups are also shown in the file of newsclippings, 1971-1976, and through the folder of records of the IAA. Also of interest may be Edward Klessig's manuscript, “The Struggle to Stop I-43: A Campaign for Alternative Development,” also located at the Green Bay Area Research Center.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Francis J. Bouda, Cleveland, Wisconsin, 1979. Accession Number: M79-102

Processing Information

Processed by Menzi Behrnd-Klodt, September 1979.

Box   1 Folder   1-5	Correspondence and Related Material, 1968-1976
Box   1 Folder   6	Correspondence with Senators Nelson and Proxmire, 1970-1974
Box   1 Folder   7	Environmental Impact Statement, Preparation of, 1969-1976
Box   2 Folder   1	Interstate Alternative Association, 1974-1975
	Legal Cases
Box   2 Folder   2	Citizens Civic Association of Door County vs. Coleman, William T. (Sturgeon Bay Bridge)
Box   2 Folder   3	Farwell vs. Brinegar (Highway 18-151 at Dodgeville, Wisconsin)
	Ford vs. Train
Box   2 Folder   4	General
Box   2 Folder   5	Defendant's Exhibits
Box   2 Folder   6	Draft Affidavit
Box   2 Folder   7	Plaintiff's Exhibits
Box   2 Folder   8	Scherr vs. Volpe (Highway 16 at Hartland, Wisconsin)
Box   2 Folder   9	Sierra Club vs. Army Corps of Engineers (Kickapoo Dam Project)
Box   2 Folder   10-11	Other Legal Cases and Notes
Box   3 Folder   1	Legislative Correspondence, Resolutions, and Notes, 1974-1976
Box   3 Folder   2	Maps
	Meetings
Box   3 Folder   3	Cleveland, Wisconsin, February 14, 1973
Box   3 Folder   4	General and at Bil Mar Supper Club, Manitowoc, August 14, 1973
Box   3 Folder   5-6	Notes re: Highways
Box   3 Folder   7	Proposed Recreational Trail, 1975-1976
Box   3 Folder   8	Rules, Statutes, Bills-Reference File
Box   3 Folder   9	Town Board meetings, 1974-1976
Box   3 Folder   10	Washington, D.C. Trip, August 1975 -Notes
Box   3 Folder   11-14	Newsclippings, 1971-1976
Box   4	Environmental Impact Statements and Drafts, Supporting Material