 A Tulsa @-@ area supervisor with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ( FWS ) commented upon environmental issues pertaining to the Creek Turnpike in a 19 @-@ page letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dated February 9 , 1990 . USACE was responsible for issuing three essential permits ( which OTA had applied for on November 6 , 1989 ) that would allow construction to continue , and was required to consider input from the service . In the letter , supervisor Stephen Forsythe recommended that the permits be denied and further studies conducted into alternate routes for the turnpike and the environmental impact on roads that connected to the turnpike . However , USACE only had the authority to review the impacts the Creek Turnpike itself made on wetland areas . Governor Bellmon publicly criticized Forsythe for focusing on concerns beyond USACE 's jurisdiction . Bellmon 's Transportation Secretary , Neal McCaleb , publicly stated " I think [ Forsythe ] is out of line [ ... ] and would say so to Mr. Forsythe . " Bellmon and McCaleb discussed the letter in a private meeting with the Secretary of the Interior , Manuel Lujan , although Lujan neither commented nor committed to any action regarding the letter . In response to Bellmon 's criticism of the letter , Tulsans Against Turnpikes issued a public statement , saying " Running behind closed political doors like that demonstrates the governor is an environmental hypocrite , " contrasting his statements with a letter he wrote assuring a constituent in Jenks that the project would be " the most aesthetically pleasing and environmentally sound facility that can be constructed " . 
