The Interstate Alternative Association (IAA) was formally organized at a meeting held February 14, 1973 at Cleveland, Town of Centerville, Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, as the Stop I-57 or Stop-141 Committee. The group was composed of farmers and environmentalists united in opposition to the construction of an interstate highway between Milwaukee and Green Bay. Among its early leaders were Edward Klessig and Norbert Orth. On 26 February 1973, the new group and members of the original Stop I-57 Environmental Alliance merged under the name of the Alliance. 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 court, and on February 1, 1975, the name of the opposition group was changed to the Interstate Alternative Association. At the time, members of the board of directors included Nancy Salm, Louise Koerber, Edward Klessig, and others.
In 1975, the IAA membership numbered 100 to 120 individuals. The group organized a protest walk from Sheboygan to Green Bay, March 21-24, 1975, a beef and cheese sale in Sheboygan, and several public polls; it also lobbied legislators regarding the highway. As part of the 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. Although the IAA was not able to stop construction of the highway, its opposition to I-43 continued, and the group also turned its attention to the related topics of the State's eminent domain laws, and condemnation procedures for private land.
