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The Environmental Program –Part I: The Beginnings

From an Interview with Allan Stockman, Summer 2009

The National Environmental Protection Act was passed into law in 1969 and government agencies,

including the Bureau of Public Roads, began to put more focus on protecting the environment.

During the 1970’s, the Bureau of Public Roads began working to implement requirements of the

National Environmental Protection Act. Allan Stockman, who would later head up the Environmental

office at Western Direct Federal Division, remembered that initially it was the Survey and Mapping

office that did environmental clearances on selected projects.

“Oneoftheirresponsibilitieswastodecideifanyenvironmentalthingsoughttobeaddressed,”

he said, adding that thereview“wasn’t real complete. They didn’t do them on all projects until they

had a review of their processes...eight or nine years after the environmental law came into effect.

“TheNEPAAct(specified)thatyououghttobeaddressingenvironmentalclearances in some

fashion on every project –at least recognizing what’sgoingon.”Tomorefullyaddressthe

requirements of the Act, WDFD set up an environmental planning unit in 1980 or 1981, shortly before

Allan joined the staff. Ralph Frame was put in charge,saidAllan,and“hehadthreepeoplethat

workedforhim”whoweremovedinfromotherpartsoftheoffice.“Theseguyshadworkedall

throughthefieldandtheywerereallygoodguys,”buttheirexperiencedidnotpreparethemfor

environmental work.“Theyworkedindesignand workedinconstruction,”then,whentheywereput

into the Environmentalunit,theywereexpected“tostudyenvironmentalimpacts,andwrite

documents....This was kind of interesting, because they were such straight-laced guys and they were

justusedtoaconstructionenvironment.”

North side of the second floor, 1965. WFLHD Archives.

“WhenIcame,”Allansaid,“Iwasthe

first...outsider,”bothintermsofhavingworkedin

Federal-aid offices and in terms of having an

environmental education. On the Federal-aid side,

the workhadbeenquiteabitdifferent.“Inalot

of states the Federal-aid office got involved in a

lotofmeetingsandactivities,”similartoFederal

Lands offices, Allan said, however, for the most

part,theyweremoreinvolvedinprogramissues”

rather than the hands-on type of work.

The environmental unit at WDFD was

located in the southeast corner of the second floor,

anditwasjustonebigroom.“Therewereno

desks,”Allansaid,“just big layout tables and a

coupleofdraftingtables,”andonlyonetelephone.

When they set it up, he said, they didn’t know what the work would involve and what kind of space

theywouldneed.“Theyweremoreusedtoworkinginaconstructiontrailer.”

Having already spent nearly ten years doing environmental work in the Utah and Colorado

Divisions, Allan had different expectations of the office setting, and he didn’t mind suggesting changes

oncehearrivedinVancouver.“Ithoughtitwasgreattogointhereandsay, “Hey, maybe we’re going
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to have to get a desk, maybe we’re going to have to get another phone, maybe a couple of chairs, and

haveatabletomeetwithpeople,”hesaid“youneedtohavebooks...you’ve got to be calling people,

and coordinating.”

Allan said “hefinallygotadesktositatandaregularchair,”butupuntilthen,“everyonesaton

a stool and at big long tables. That’sjusthowtheyworked.”

Recallingtheoriginalstaff,Allansaid,“thereweresomeuniqueguys.”Inmanycases,people

weretappedforthenewofficefromthe“designorconstructionormaterialsorsurveysections.”One

of these was, Jim Brooks, that sometimesappearedtosomepeopleas“acantankerousoldguy....He

neversaidmuch,”Allansaid,“but when you actually talked to him, you realized he did have (an)

appreciation”oftheenvironmentalprogram.

Another person who was put into the section when it was created was Mel Replogle. “Hehad

worked through construction and design, but he was an architectural kind of guy. He drew sketches, he

loved to talk, and helovedtoreminisceabouthistoricalthings.”AllanaddedthatMelprobably“fitthe

environmentalsectionbetterthananyoneelse.”

RalphFramewasChiefofthenewEnvironmentalUnit.“Hestayedtherefor a year or two,

thenheretired,andItookoverhisjob,”Allansaid,notingthatotherscameandwentaswell.“After

Ralphleft,westartedtopickupmorepeople.”TwoofthesewerehiredfromtheWashingtonDOT.

Dan O'Brien and Pierre Hendrickson “wereolderguys.Theyhadthelastwordonthethingsthat

they did. After 30-40yearsofworking,theyknewwhatwasright.”Asthegroupbecamebigger,“they

becameourteamleadersforprojects,”Allansaid.

When the environmental work took them into the field, they encountered even more

“interesting”personalities.Fromhisenvironmentalperspective,Allanfoundthat“constructionguys

werealwaysalittlebitdifferent.”HerecalledoneprojectengineerwhoworkedinGlacierNational

Park and other Montana projects, Max Ulver, whomhedescribedas“colorful...(He)kindofliked

environment, but yet he had his own interpretations on what was an impact and what was mitigation.

“Idealtwithhimonabunchofprojects.Youwouldhavetogooutthere as the job was being

built,”Allansaid,tomakesurethattheenvironmentalmitigationmeasureswerebeingimplemented.

Wehad“toseeifitwasanywhereclosetowhatwethoughtitwassupposedtobelike...That’s when

you got to see the construction side.”

Theenvironmentalstaffcontinuedtogrow,“andbeforelong,webecamealmostthebiggestunit

in Western Federal Lands. We did planning, preliminary design, location, and environmental work in

our unit, and it was quite a deal. We hired a lot of people. We realized we needed people with a good

background,sowehiredretireesorguysthatcamefromthehighwaydepartment.”

At one point, as the unit grew to 12-14 people, it became apparent that a good knowledge of

environmental work was not alwaysenough.“Somefolksweregoodintheengineeringside,butwhen

itcametoactuallywritingdocuments,theywerealittlesubpar.”Theystartedlookingfortechnical

writers,toput“itdowninKing’sEnglish,”hesaid.Greg Humphreys “wasoneofthe first people we

hiredtohelpusdothat.”

There were many changes over the years, but the experience was well worth it. Looking back

onhisworkintheVancouveroffice,Allansaid,“Itwasneat–I just loved the experience, and I liked

the people a lot.”

Allan Stockman came to the FHWA training program in 1969 and arrived in Western Federal

Lands Highway Division in about 1981. Stories in this series have been developed by Marili Green

Reilly from interviews and correspondence. If you have memories to share about your experiences on

federal lands work, you may email them to marili.reilly@dot.gov.