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.
