By virtue of and pursuant to the authority vested in me as President of the United States, and in order to effectuate further the purposes of the Migratory Bird Conservation Act (45 Stat. 1222), it is ordered that the following-described lands, consisting of 37,000 acres, more or less, acquired or to be acquired by the United States, in Beaverhead County, Montana, be, and they are hereby, reserved and set apart for the use of the Department of Agriculture, subject to valid existing rights, as an addition to the Red Rock Lakes Migratory Waterfowl Refuge established by Executive Order No. 7023, of April 22, 1935: Provided , That any private lands within the areas described shall become a part of the refuge upon the acquisition of title or lease thereto by the United States: Montana Meridian T. 13 S., R. 1 E., sec. 31, all. T. 14 S., R. 1 E., secs. 6, 7, 18, 19, and 30. T. 13 S., R. 1 W., sec. 16, all; sec. 17, S ½; sec. 20, all; secs. 25 to 36, inclusive. T. 14 S., R. 1 W., secs. 1 to 30, inclusive. T. 13 S., R. 2 W., sec. 17, W ½; sec. 19, all; sec. 20, NW ¼ and S ½; sec. 21, S ½; secs. 25 to 36, inclusive. T. 14 S., R. 2 W., secs. 1 to 17, inclusive; secs. 20 to 25, inclusive. T. 13 S., R. 3 W., sec. 36, E ½; T. 14 S., R. 3 W., sec. 1, lots 1, 2, 5, 6, and 7, SE ¼ NE ¼, and S ½ SE ¼; sec. 12, E ½. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT The White House, September 4, 1935.
Executive Order 7172 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
Executive Order 7172—Enlarging Red Rock Lakes Migratory Waterfowl Refuge, Montana
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 1 min read (281 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
The following-described lands, consisting of 37,000 acres, more or less, acquired or to be acquired by the United States, in Beaverhead County, Montana, be, and they are hereby, reserved and set apart for the use of the Department of Agriculture, subject to valid existing rights, as an addition to the Red Rock Lakes Migratory Waterfowl Refuge established by Executive Order No. 7023, of April 22, 1935: Provided , That any private lands within the areas described shall become a part of the refuge upon the acquisition of title or lease thereto by the United States: Montana Meridian T. 13 S., R. 1 E., sec. 31, all.
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
🏛️ 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 Franklin D. Roosevelt on September 4, 1935, this order concerns Enlarging Red Rock Lakes Migratory Waterfowl Refuge, Montana. The following-described lands, consisting of 37,000 acres, more or less, acquired or to be acquired by the United States, in Beaverhead County, Montana, be, and they are hereby, reserved and set apart for the use of the Department of Agriculture, subject to valid existing rights, as an addition to the Red Rock Lakes Migratory Waterfowl Refuge established by Executive Order No. 7023, of April 22, 1935: Provided…
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
▪
The following-described lands, consisting of 37,000 acres, more or less, acquired or to be acquired by the United States, in Beaverhead County, Montana, be, and they are hereby, reserved and set apart for the use of the Department of Agriculture, subject to valid existing rights, as an addition to the Red Rock Lakes Migratory Waterfowl Refuge established by Executive Order No. 7023, of April 22, 1935: Provided , That any private lands within the areas described shall become a part of the refuge upon the acquisition of title or lease thereto by the United States: Montana Meridian T. 13 S., R. 1 E., sec. 31, all.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
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.
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight)
§
"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
📐
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
30 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8
Low Friction
Legislative Encroachment & Purse
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
Low Friction
Executive Scope & Faithfulness
Exercises standard supervisory executive authority to faithfully execute existing statutes.
Benchmark: Faithfully execute laws enacted by Congress vs. unilateral decree.
Dimension 3 • 10th Amendment
Moderate Friction
Federalism & State Sovereignty
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
Low Friction
Due Process & Individual Rights
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
Moderate Friction
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.
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%).
ℹ️
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
281
1,376 characters
Estimated Read Time
1 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
6.8
Grade 7
Text size:
Related Executive Orders
1 order cited directly in this text, plus related actions from this administration.
EO 7023 Apr 22, 1935
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 7023—Establishing Red Rock Lakes Migratory Waterfowl Refuge
📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process
Subject to valid existing rights, all the public lands of the United States in the above-described area be, and they are hereby, withdrawn from settlement, location, sale, entry, or other form of appropriation and reserved and set apart for the use of the Department of…
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Executive Order 7174—Amendment of Executive Order No. 7126 of August 5, 1935
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
Executive Order No. 7126 of August 5, 1935, entitled "Submission of Estimates to the Bureau of the Budget of Expenditures for Administrative Expenses in Certain Cases", as amended by Executive Order No. 7150 of August 19, 1935, is hereby further amended so as to make its…
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EO 7173 Sep 4, 1935
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 7173—Establishing White River Migratory Waterfowl Refuge
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
The following-described lands, consisting of 110,000 acres, more or less, acquired or to be acquired by the United States, in Arkansas, Desha, Monroe, and Phillips Counties, Arkansas, be, and they are hereby, reserved and set apart for the use of the Department of Agriculture…
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EO 7171 Sep 4, 1935
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 7171—Establishing Lostwood Migratory Waterfowl Refuge, North Dakota
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
The following-described lands, acquired or to be acquired by the United States, in Burke and Mountrail Counties, North Dakota, consisting of 33,045 acres, more or less, be, and they are hereby, reserved and set apart for the use of the Department of Agriculture, subject to…
Franklin D. Roosevelt Grade 8 • 1m
EO 7170 Sep 4, 1935
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 7170—Establishing Lower Souris Migratory Waterfowl Refuge
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
The following-described lands, consisting of 40,000 acres, more or less, acquired or to be acquired by the United States, in Bottineau and McHenry Counties, North Dakota, be, and they are hereby, reserved and set apart for the use of the Department of Agriculture, subject to…
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EO 7169 Sep 4, 1935
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 7169—Establishing Sand Lake Migratory Waterfowl Refuge, South Dakota
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
The following-described lands, acquired or to be acquired by the United States, in Brown County, South Dakota, consisting of 23,103 acres, more or less, be, and they are hereby, reserved and set apart for the use of the Department of Agriculture, subject to valid existing…
Franklin D. Roosevelt Grade 4 • 2m
📜
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 7172 (Sept. 4, 1935), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-7172-enlarging-red-rock-lakes-migratory-waterfowl-refuge-montana.
