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Early life and influences
Q: Mr. Alm, please tell me about your upbringing, family life, and education.
MR. ALM: I grew up in Denver, Colorado. I went to the University of Denver and graduated in 1960. I then went to the Maxwell School, in Syracuse, N.Y. for a master's degree in public administration. I have a daughter, who is a freshman at Wesleyan University.
Q: What was it like growing up in Denver in the '50s and '60s?
MR. ALM: I remember Denver before air pollution. When I lived in Denver, it was kind of an ideal place to be brought up. We were near the mountains. Good weather. A lot of outdoor activities. So it was a very, very pleasant place to grow up.
Q: Did you hunt, fish and those sorts of things?
MR. ALM: Yes, my father was a avid fisherman. We tended to go fishing almost every weekend. I learned how to fly fish, did virtually every kind of fishing all around the mountain areas near Denver. Unfortunately, I never was patient enough to be a good fisherman, but I did enjoy being outdoors.
Q: Were you involved in environmental groups, such as the Izaak Walton League or others?
MR. ALM: Not at that time, no.
Q: What was your father like?
MR. ALM: Well, my father was Swedish American. He was an immigrant tailor.
Q: What are your recollections of him? You said he fished.
MR. ALM: Well, I remember both spending a lot of time with him fishing and visiting the tailor shop he had in downtown Denver. I rather enjoyed just watching how that thing operated. I was probably a real pest at the time.
Q: Did that give you some idea about managing an organization?
MR. ALM: I am not sure it did.
Q: How did your family and friends feel about the environment?
MR. ALM: Well, I think in those days you took it for granted. Again, the first sense that we had in Denver that something was amiss, was when the air pollution got to the point that one no longer had clear views of the mountains. It sort of sneaks up on you and suddenly one day you realize the extent to which, well, we have fouled our own nest with the explosive growth in Denver.
Q: Was there a reaction among the people in Denver against that? Did they recognize what the problem was and try to do something about it?
MR. ALM: Well, I left in 1960. And I think as of that time, at least to my recollection, people accepted it as a natural corollary to progress. As you recall, it was really 1970 when the environmental movement burst forth. I was not in Denver during those 10 years. When I came back in the '70s, there was a great deal of concern. Obviously the Clean Air Act set a very ambitious schedule, reducing three pollutants by 90 percent. So that gave some hope that Denver's air pollution would be corrected. Obviously, even today, considering the meteorological conditions, the high altitude, and the population growth Denver has, there are serious air-pollution problems.
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