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Executive Order 7087 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation

Executive Order 7087—Transfer of Lands From the Clearwater National Forest to the Lolo National Forest in the State of Idaho

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin D. Roosevelt
•
Thursday, June 27, 1935
•
2 min read (377 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 2 min read (377 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

All lands within the Clearwater National Forest lying south and east of the following-described line be, and they are hereby, transferred to the Lolo National Forest: Beginning at a point on the main hydrographic divide between the North Fork Clearwater River drainage on the north and the Lochsa River drainage on the south at a point identified as Indian Grave Peak at approximately latitude 46° 30' N. and longitude 115° 10' W.; thence in a northwesterly direction along Windy Ridge, identified as the hydrographic divide between the Gravey Creek drainage on the northeast and the headwaters of Weitas Creek on the southwest, passing over B.M. 6435, to a point where said divide is intersected by the hydrographic divide between Monroe Greek on…

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⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
Framers' constitutional debate ↓
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Private Citizens & Property Owners Financial Institutions & Monetary Authorities
Inspect unabridged text ↓

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 June 27, 1935, this order concerns Transfer of Lands From the Clearwater National Forest to the Lolo National Forest in the State of Idaho. All lands within the Clearwater National Forest lying south and east of the following-described line be, and they are hereby, transferred to the Lolo National Forest: Beginning at a point on the main hydrographic divide between the North Fork Clearwater River drainage on the north and the Lochsa River drainage on the south at a point identified as Indian Grave Peak at approximately latitude 46° 30' N. and longitude…

Constitutional Assessment: Reviewed under the Tenth Amendment and the principle of dual federalism, this order touches upon domains traditionally reserved to the sovereign States. The Framers would caution against any attempt to commandeer state officers or displace local police powers through federal executive fiat.

Key Directives & Operative Actions

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All lands within the Clearwater National Forest lying south and east of the following-described line be, and they are hereby, transferred to the Lolo National Forest: Beginning at a point on the main hydrographic divide between the North Fork Clearwater River drainage on the north and the Lochsa River drainage on the south at a point identified as Indian Grave Peak at approximately latitude 46° 30' N. and longitude 115° 10' W.; thence in a northwesterly direction along Windy Ridge, identified as the hydrographic divide between the Gravey Creek drainage on the northeast and the headwaters of Weitas Creek on the southwest, passing over B.M. 6435, to a point where said divide is intersected by the hydrographic divide between Monroe Greek on…

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners 🏛️ Financial Institutions & Monetary Authorities

Policy Areas & Topics

🏷️ Agriculture
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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 1 (Maximum Authority)
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"When the President acts pursuant to an express or implied authorization of Congress, his authority is at its maximum, for it includes all that he possesses in his own right plus all that Congress can delegate."

— Justice Robert H. Jackson, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952) Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
JM

James Madison

Separation of Powers & Legislative Primacy

"The constitutional magistracy was designed not to invent policy, but to be the faithful instrument of the laws passed by the people's representatives." — Speech in the First Congress (1789)

Madison would approve the structural posture of this order. The President acts strictly in subordination to statutory authority granted under Article II, Section 3 ("take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed"). The checks and balances hold firm because the policy origin remains with the legislature.

Madisonian Stance: Concurring (Statutory)
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: Supportive of Execution
GM

George Mason

Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." — 10th Amendment to the US Constitution (1791)

Mason would scrutinize whether this federal directive intrudes into police powers, land stewardship, or municipal domains historically reserved to local citizens. The Anti-Federalist demand is that federal administration must never supplant state self-governance.

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.

🛡️ High Constitutional Concordance
23 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

Low Friction

Operates within delegated statutory execution without modifying legislative appropriations or taxing powers.

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

Low Friction

Focuses on internal governmental operations with no direct impairment of private rights or property.

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

Youngstown Jacksonian Tier

Low Friction

The President operates strictly as the constitutional Chief Executive, carrying out policy established by Congress with strong statutory backing.

Benchmark: Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
⚖️ Audit Synthesis

This order operates in close harmony with statutory authority and standard Article II supervisory execution.

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
377
2,259 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
16.2
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 and pursuant to the authority vested in me by the act of June 4, 1897 (30 Stat. 11, 36; title 16, U.S.C., sec. 473), and upon the recommendation of the Secretary of Agriculture, it is ordered that all lands within the Clearwater National Forest lying south and east of the following-described line be, and they are hereby, transferred to the Lolo National Forest: Beginning at a point on the main hydrographic divide between the North Fork Clearwater River drainage on the north and the Lochsa River drainage on the south at a point identified as Indian Grave Peak at approximately latitude 46° 30' N. and longitude 115° 10' W.; thence in a northwesterly direction along Windy Ridge, identified as the hydrographic divide between the Gravey Creek drainage on the northeast and the headwaters of Weitas Creek on the southwest, passing over B.M. 6435, to a point where said divide is intersected by the hydrographic divide between Monroe Greek on the northwest and Gravey Creek on the southeast; thence northeasterly along said Monroe Creek-Gravey Creek divide to Raspberry Butte; thence easterly down the ridge between branch drainage of Gravey Creek on the south and tributaries of Cayuse Creek on the north to an intersection with Cayuse Creek just west of the mouth of Gravey Creek; thence across Cayuse Creek and northeasterly up the ridge to Lunde Peak; thence in a general easterly direction along the hydrographic divide between Toboggan Creek on the north and Cayuse Creek on the south to a point identified as B.M. 6580; thence northerly and easterly around tributaries of Cayuse Creek to B.M. 7525, which point is identified as Black Lead Peak; thence northerly and easterly around the divide at the head of Silver Creek to an intersection with the main hydrographic divide between the North Fork Clearwater River drainage on the west and the Lochsa River drainage on the east to a point approximately identical with B.M. 7705 and further identified as Williams Peak. It is not intended by this order to remove from a national-forest status any land having a national-forest status or to place in a national-forest status any public lands which have not heretofore had such a status. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT The White House, June 27, 1935.

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Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 7087 (June 27, 1935), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-7087-transfer-lands-from-the-clearwater-national-forest-the-lolo-national.