By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Act of Congress entitled "AN ACT For the relief of unemployment through the performance of useful public work, and for other purposes" approved March 31, 1933 (Public No. 5—73rd Congress), paragraph (5) of Executive Order Number 6160, dated June 7, 1933, and Executive Order Number 6181, dated June 24, 1933, are rescinded, and the following substituted therefor: The sum of $20,000,000 is hereby allocated from the appropriation for "National Industrial Recovery", contained in the Fourth Deficiency Act, Fiscal Year 1933, approved June 16, 1933, and shall be transferred by the Treasury Department to the credit of the War Department, for the purchase of forest lands under the authority contained in the Act approved March 31, 1933. The funds authorized by the President for the purchase of forest lands for Conservation Work will, upon request by the Chief of Finance under direction of Robert Fechner, Director of Emergency Conservation Work, be transferred by the Treasury to the credit of the Department of Agriculture; and the funds so transferred shall be withdrawn on requisition by the Chief of the Forest Service, Department of Agriculture, for the purchase of forest lands within national-forest purchase areas hitherto or hereafter established by the Secretary of Agriculture with the concurrence and approval of the National Forest Reservation Commission, under the provisions of the Act of March 1, 1911, as amended, and in conformity with the procedure hitherto established to govern the conduct of such purchases of land, including the costs incident to the purchase of the lands. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT The White House, July 21, 1933.
Executive Order 6208—Purchase of Forest Lands for Emergency Conservation Work
Executive Brief • At a Glance
Paragraph (5) of Executive Order Number 6160, dated June 7, 1933, and Executive Order Number 6181, dated June 24, 1933, are rescinded, and the following substituted therefor: The sum of $20,000,000 is hereby allocated from the appropriation for "National Industrial Recovery", contained in the Fourth Deficiency Act, Fiscal Year 1933, approved June 16, 1933, and shall be transferred by the Treasury Department to the credit of the War Department, for the purchase of forest lands under the authority contained in the Act approved March 31, 1933.
Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis
Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.
Signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on July 21, 1933, this order concerns Purchase of Forest Lands for Emergency Conservation Work. Paragraph (5) of Executive Order Number 6160, dated June 7, 1933, and Executive Order Number 6181, dated June 24, 1933, are rescinded, and the following substituted therefor: The sum of $20,000,000 is hereby allocated from the appropriation for "National Industrial Recovery", contained in the Fourth Deficiency Act, Fiscal Year 1933, approved June 16, 1933, and shall be transferred by the Treasury Department to the…
Key Directives & Operative Actions
Paragraph (5) of Executive Order Number 6160, dated June 7, 1933, and Executive Order Number 6181, dated June 24, 1933, are rescinded, and the following substituted therefor: The sum of $20,000,000 is hereby allocated from the appropriation for "National Industrial Recovery", contained in the Fourth Deficiency Act, Fiscal Year 1933, approved June 16, 1933, and shall be transferred by the Treasury Department to the credit of the War Department, for the purchase of forest lands under the authority contained in the Act approved March 31, 1933.
The funds authorized by the President for the purchase of forest lands for Conservation Work will, upon request by the Chief of Finance under direction of Robert Fechner, Director of Emergency Conservation Work, be transferred by the Treasury to the credit of the Department of Agriculture; and the funds so transferred shall be withdrawn on requisition by the Chief of the Forest Service, Department of Agriculture, for the purchase of forest lands within national-forest purchase areas hitherto or hereafter established by the Secretary of Agriculture with the concurrence and approval of the National Forest Reservation Commission, under the provisions of the Act of March 1, 1911, as amended, and in conformity with the procedure hitherto…
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
Policy Areas & Topics
The Framers' Constitutional Council
1787 PrismEvaluating this order against the constitutional debates of 1787 and the limits of Article II executive power.
"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."
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.
Alexander Hamilton
The Energetic Executive & Unified Command
"The direction of war implies the direction of the common strength; and the power of directing and employing the common strength must be under the direction of the single hand of the Executive." — Federalist No. 74 (1788)
Hamilton would forcefully champion executive discretion here. For foreign entanglements, commerce defense, and national security, deliberative assemblies are too slow and faction-ridden. A unified, energetic Executive exercising swift command is precisely what the Philadelphia Convention intended for national preservation.
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.
Five Measurable "Constitutional Friction" Dimensions
An objective audit measuring potential separation-of-powers tension against the United States Constitution and established Supreme Court doctrine.
Legislative Encroachment & Purse
Administers commerce or fiscal programs requiring ongoing statutory delegation and legislative oversight.
Executive Scope & Faithfulness
Exercises standard supervisory executive authority to faithfully execute existing statutes.
Federalism & State Sovereignty
Confined strictly to internal federal jurisdiction, federal property, or direct military command.
Due Process & Individual Rights
Focuses on internal governmental operations with no direct impairment of private rights or property.
Youngstown Jacksonian Tier
The order relies on inherent Article II executive discretion, civil service management, or foreign diplomacy where Congress has neither expressly approved nor prohibited action.
This order operates within Justice Jackson’s Zone of Twilight, resting upon concurrent presidential authority or congressional silence.
Referenced By Later Executive Orders (4)
Subsequent presidents who cited, amended, continued, or revoked this directive in later orders.
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 6208 (July 21, 1933), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-6208-purchase-forest-lands-for-emergency-conservation-work.