MINNESOTA AND WISCONSIN By virtue of and pursuant to the authority vested in me by the act of June 25, 1910, ch . 421, 36 Stat. 847, as amended by the act of August 24, 1912, ch. 369, 37 Stat. 497, and as President of the United States, and in order to effectuate further the purposes of the Upper Mississippi River Wild Life and Fish Refuge Act (43 Stat. 650) and the Migratory Bird Conservation Act (45 Stat. 1222), it is ordered that the following-described lands in Wabasha County, Minnesota, and Buffalo County, Wisconsin, situated on either side of or upon islands in the Mississippi River between Rock Island, Illinois, and Wabasha, Minnesota, and subject to overflow by the said river, which lands have been determined by the Secretary of Agriculture to be suitable for the purposes of the said Upper Mississippi River Wild Life and Fish Refuge Act, be, and they are hereby, reserved and set apart, subject to valid existing rights, for the use of the Department of Agriculture as a breeding place for migratory birds, other wild birds, game animals, fur-bearing animals, fish and other aquatic animal life and for the conservation of wild flowers and aquatic plants, to be administered as a part of the Upper Mississippi River Wild Life and Fish Refuge: The above-described lands have been acquired by the United States through judicial proceedings, and are primarily under the jurisdiction of the War Department, and their reservation as a wild-life refuge is subject to the use thereof by said Department in connection with the improvement of navigation in the Mississippi River; and the uses thereof, and the enforcement of law and regulations thereon, by the Department of Agriculture shall be without interference with any existing or future uses or regulations of the War Department. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT The White House, October 24, 1935.
Executive Order 7212—Addition to Upper Mississippi River Wild Life and Fish Refuge
Executive Brief • At a Glance
The following-described lands in Wabasha County, Minnesota, and Buffalo County, Wisconsin, situated on either side of or upon islands in the Mississippi River between Rock Island, Illinois, and Wabasha, Minnesota, and subject to overflow by the said river, which lands have been determined by the Secretary of Agriculture to be suitable for the purposes of the said Upper Mississippi River Wild Life and Fish Refuge Act, be, and they are hereby, reserved and set apart, subject to valid existing rights, for the use of the Department of Agriculture as a breeding place for migratory birds, other wild birds, game animals, fur-bearing animals, fish and other aquatic animal life and for the conservation of wild flowers and aquatic plants, to be…
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 October 24, 1935, this order concerns Addition to Upper Mississippi River Wild Life and Fish Refuge. The following-described lands in Wabasha County, Minnesota, and Buffalo County, Wisconsin, situated on either side of or upon islands in the Mississippi River between Rock Island, Illinois, and Wabasha, Minnesota, and subject to overflow by the said river, which lands have been determined by the Secretary of Agriculture to be suitable for the purposes of the said Upper Mississippi River Wild Life and Fish Refuge…
Key Directives & Operative Actions
The following-described lands in Wabasha County, Minnesota, and Buffalo County, Wisconsin, situated on either side of or upon islands in the Mississippi River between Rock Island, Illinois, and Wabasha, Minnesota, and subject to overflow by the said river, which lands have been determined by the Secretary of Agriculture to be suitable for the purposes of the said Upper Mississippi River Wild Life and Fish Refuge Act, be, and they are hereby, reserved and set apart, subject to valid existing rights, for the use of the Department of Agriculture as a breeding place for migratory birds, other wild birds, game animals, fur-bearing animals, fish and other aquatic animal life and for the conservation of wild flowers and aquatic plants, to be…
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
Operates within delegated statutory execution without modifying legislative appropriations or taxing powers.
Executive Scope & Faithfulness
Exercises standard supervisory executive authority to faithfully execute existing statutes.
Federalism & State Sovereignty
Engages state and local partners in cooperative federalism programs.
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.
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 7212 (Oct. 24, 1935), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-7212-addition-upper-mississippi-river-wild-life-and-fish-refuge.