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Executive Order 10787 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 Art. II §3: Administrative Management & Civil Service

Executive Order 10787—Transferring Jurisdiction Over Certain Lands From the Department of Agriculture to the Department of the Interior, for Use, Administration, or Exchange Under the Taylor Grazing Act and Other Statutes

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Thursday, November 6, 1958
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4 min read (795 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 4 min read (795 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

Subject to valid existing rights, jurisdiction over the lands, to the extent indicated, in the following-described areas acquired or in the process of acquisition by the Secretary of Agriculture under the provisions of section 32 of the BankheadJones Farm Tenant Act (7 U.S.C. 1011), or transferred to the Secretary of Agriculture for use, administration, and disposition in accordance with the provisions of Title III of that act, together with title and use records, water or water rights, improvements, appurtenances, and structures acquired, constructed, or used in connection with the use and administration of such lands, is hereby transferred from the Department of Agriculture to the Department of the Interior for use, administration, or…

⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §3: Administrative Management & Civil Service
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants

Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis

Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.

Signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on November 6, 1958, this order concerns Transferring Jurisdiction Over Certain Lands From the Department of Agriculture to the Department of the Interior, for Use, Administration, or Exchange Under the Taylor Grazing Act and Other Statutes. Subject to valid existing rights, jurisdiction over the lands, to the extent indicated, in the following-described areas acquired or in the process of acquisition by the Secretary of Agriculture under the provisions of section 32 of the BankheadJones Farm Tenant Act (7 U.S.C. 1011), or transferred to the Secretary of Agriculture for use, administration, and disposition in accordance with the provisions of Title III…

Constitutional Assessment: This action represents an orderly exercise of Article II administrative discretion, managing the internal machinery and personnel of the executive branch without abridging the ancient liberties of the people.

Key Directives & Operative Actions

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Subject to valid existing rights, jurisdiction over the lands, to the extent indicated, in the following-described areas acquired or in the process of acquisition by the Secretary of Agriculture under the provisions of section 32 of the BankheadJones Farm Tenant Act (7 U.S.C. 1011), or transferred to the Secretary of Agriculture for use, administration, and disposition in accordance with the provisions of Title III of that act, together with title and use records, water or water rights, improvements, appurtenances, and structures acquired, constructed, or used in connection with the use and administration of such lands, is hereby transferred from the Department of Agriculture to the Department of the Interior for use, administration, or…

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CUBA-RIO PUERCO PROJECT (NM-LU-22), Sandoval and McKinley Counties, except the NE 1/4 NE 1/4, section 19, and the NW 1/4, NW 1/4 NE 1/4, section 20, Township 21 North, Range 1 West, New Mexico Principal Meridian, and that portion of the Espiritu Santo Grant covered by the act of August 2, 1958, 70 Stat. 941, the area over which jurisdiction is transferred containing approximately 193,350 acres. 3.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
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The Framers' Constitutional Council

1787 Prism

Evaluating this order against the constitutional debates of 1787 and the limits of Article II executive power.

⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight)
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"When the President acts in absence of either a congressional grant or denial of authority, he can only rely upon his own independent powers, but there is a zone of twilight in which he and Congress may have concurrent authority."

— Justice Robert H. Jackson, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952) Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
JM

James Madison

Separation of Powers & Legislative Primacy

"Power is of an encroaching nature, and it ought to be effectually restrained from passing the limits assigned to it." — Federalist No. 48 (1788)

Madison would view this order with watchful scrutiny. Operating in the 'Zone of Twilight' where Congress is silent, each such directive establishes an administrative precedent that steadily expands the executive perimeter at the expense of legislative primacy.

Madisonian Stance: Vigilant / Cautionary
AH

Alexander Hamilton

The Energetic Executive & Unified Command

"A feeble Executive implies a feeble execution of the government; and a government ill executed, whatever it may be in theory, must be, in practice, a bad government." — Federalist No. 70 (1788)

Hamilton would view this directive as the natural and indispensable functioning of administrative leadership. Without the power to coordinate agencies, manage personnel, and resolve operational ambiguities, the modern presidency would be reduced to an impotent figurehead.

Hamiltonian Stance: Defends Vigor & Dispatch
GM

George Mason

Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment

"The president will be surrounded by flatterers and sycophants... and the great powers of the executive will gradually absorb the liberties of the people." — Cato IV (Anti-Federalist, 1787)

The Anti-Federalist prism advises continuous democratic vigilance. Even routine administrative directives aggregate centralized federal power away from town halls and state assemblies toward a distant executive apparatus.

Anti-Federalist Stance: Eternal Vigilance Required
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Five Measurable "Constitutional Friction" Dimensions

An objective audit measuring potential separation-of-powers tension against the United States Constitution and established Supreme Court doctrine.

⚖️ Discretionary Twilight Zone
42 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

Moderate Friction

Administers commerce or fiscal programs requiring ongoing statutory delegation and legislative oversight.

Benchmark: Power of the purse, taxes/tariffs, and rule of law reserved to Congress.
Dimension 2 • Art. II, §1 & §3

Executive Scope & Faithfulness

Low Friction

Exercises standard supervisory executive authority to faithfully execute existing statutes.

Benchmark: Faithfully execute laws enacted by Congress vs. unilateral decree.
Dimension 3 • 10th Amendment

Federalism & State Sovereignty

Moderate Friction

Engages state and local partners in cooperative federalism programs.

Benchmark: Police powers and un-delegated responsibilities reserved to the States.
Dimension 4 • 5th & 14th Amendments

Due Process & Individual Rights

Moderate Friction

Applies regulatory or compliance standards to private contractors or commercial entities.

Benchmark: Protection of private property, contracts, liberty, and procedural justice.
Dimension 5 • Separation of Powers

Youngstown Jacksonian Tier

Moderate Friction

The order relies on inherent Article II executive discretion, civil service management, or foreign diplomacy where Congress has neither expressly approved nor prohibited action.

Benchmark: Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
⚖️ Audit Synthesis

This order operates within Justice Jackson’s Zone of Twilight, resting upon concurrent presidential authority or congressional silence.

Weighted composite: Art. I (25%), Art. II (25%), Federalism (15%), Due Process (15%), Youngstown (20%).
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How to read these dimensions: Executive power expands whenever an administration acts without explicit statutory authorization from Congress (Article I), touches upon police powers historically reserved to the states (Tenth Amendment), or limits private rights and property without judicial process. A low friction score indicates strict concordance with enacted law; a high friction score highlights orders testing the limits of presidential discretion.
Total Words
795
5,196 characters
Estimated Read Time
4 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
17.4
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

By virtue of the authority vested in me by section 32 (c) of Title III of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act, approved July 22, 1937 (50 Stat. 522, 525; 7 U.S.C. 1011 (c)), and as President of the United States, and upon the recommendation of the Secretary of Agriculture, it is ordered as follows: Subject to valid existing rights, jurisdiction over the lands, to the extent indicated, in the following-described areas acquired or in the process of acquisition by the Secretary of Agriculture under the provisions of section 32 of the BankheadJones Farm Tenant Act (7 U.S.C. 1011), or transferred to the Secretary of Agriculture for use, administration, and disposition in accordance with the provisions of Title III of that act, together with title and use records, water or water rights, improvements, appurtenances, and structures acquired, constructed, or used in connection with the use and administration of such lands, is hereby transferred from the Department of Agriculture to the Department of the Interior for use, administration, or exchange under the applicable provisions of the Taylor Grazing Act (48 Stat. 1269), as amended, the Coordination and Conservation Act of March 10, 1934 (48 Stat. 401), as amended, or the Migratory Bird Conservation Act (45 Stat. 1222), as amended, or under the general land-management authority of the Secretary of the Interior as the Secretary shall determine, including the authority to grant licenses and easements upon such terms as he may deem reasonable: Provided, that twenty-five per cent of the net revenues received by the Secretary of the Interior from grazing and other uses of the transferred lands shall continue to be paid to the counties in which such lands are located for the purposes specified in section 33 of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act (7 U.S.C. 1012) in lieu of payments therefrom to the States or counties at the rates specified in section 10 of the Taylor Grazing Act (43 U.S.C. 315 i) or in any other act under which the transferred lands will be used and administered under this order: And provided further, that the transfer of jurisdiction over those lands that are in process of acquisition shall take effect upon the completion of acquisition thereof by the Secretary of Agriculture: CALIFORNIA All lands administered under Title III of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act in connection with the following-described Land Utilization project, exclusive of the area excepted therefrom: SAN JOAQUIN PROJECT (CF-LU-21), Tulare County, except all of section 5 and the E1/211% section 6, Township 23 South, Range 24 East, Mount Diablo Meridian, the excepted area containing approximately 800 acres, and the area over which jurisdiction Is transferred containing approximately 4,357 acres. MONTANA All lands administered under Title III of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act in connection with the following-described Land Utilization projects: 1. BUFFALO CREEK PROJECT (MT-L13-23), Yellowstone County, containing approximately 73,717 acres. 2. CENTRAL MONTANA PROJECT (MT-L11-22), Fergus County, containing approximately 103.108 acres. 3. KINSEY LAND USE PROJECT (MT-LIT-24), Custer County, containing approximately 15,674 acres. 4. LOWER YELLOWSTONE PROJECT (MT-LU-4), Prairie County, containing approximately 391,933 acres. 5. MILK RIVER LAND PROJECT (MTLU-2), Blaine, Phillips, and Valley Counties, containing approximately 953,347 acres. G. MUSSELSHELL PROJECT (MT-LU-3), Musselshell and Petroleum Counties, containing approximately 268,309 acres. 7. SOUTHEAST MONTANA PROJECT (MTLU-21), Custer and Fallon Counties, containing approximately 129,785 acres. NEW MEXICO To the extent indicated, the lands administered under Title III of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act in connection with the following-described Land Utilization projects: 1. HOPE LAND PROJECT (NM-LU-4), Eddy County, all lands comprising the said project, approximately 12,773 scree. 2. CUBA-RIO PUERCO PROJECT (NM-LU-22), Sandoval and McKinley Counties, except the NE 1/4 NE 1/4, section 19, and the NW 1/4, NW 1/4 NE 1/4, section 20, Township 21 North, Range 1 West, New Mexico Principal Meridian, and that portion of the Espiritu Santo Grant covered by the act of August 2, 1958, 70 Stat. 941, the area over which jurisdiction is transferred containing approximately 193,350 acres. 3. NORTHERN NEW MEXICO GRANT LANDS PROJECT (NM-LU-25), Rio Arriba and Taos Counties, those parts of the said project described as follows: (a) The westerly two-thirds of the Sebastian Martin Grant, the east boundary being a line that would be a northerly extension of the westerly boundary of that portion of the Carson National Forest as it exists immediately to the south of the Grant; and (b) T. 21 N., R. 7 E., New Mexico Principal Meridian Section 15; S 1/2; Section 29; N 1/2 SW 1/4; Section 30; S 1/2; Section 32; NW 1/4; containing approximately 32,880 acres. TEXAS All lands administered under Title III of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act in connection with the following-described Land Utilization project: TIERRA BLANCA PROJECT (TX-LU-21), Randall County, containing approximately 7,677 acres. DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER

THE WHITE HOUSE, #signature

November 6, 1958.

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 10,787 (Nov. 6, 1958), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-10787-transferring-jurisdiction-over-certain-lands-from-the-department.