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Executive Order 7513 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation

Executive Order 7513—Transfer of Lands From the Roosevelt and Pike National Forests to the Arapaho National Forest in the State of Colorado

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin D. Roosevelt
•
Wednesday, December 16, 1936
•
2 min read (317 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 2 min read (317 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

Lands within the Roosevelt and Pike National Forests be, and they are hereby, transferred to the Arapaho National Forest as follows: FROM THE ROOSEVELT TO THE ARAPAHO NATIONAL FOREST All lands within the Roosevelt National Forest lying to the southward of the following-described line: Beginning at a point on the north line of Section 19, T. 2 S., R. 72 W., 6th P.M., where the hydrographic divide between Boulder Creek Drainage on the north and Clear Creek Drainage on the south, intersects said north line; thence westerly along said hydrographic divide to its point of intersection with the Clear Creek County boundary line near Kingston Mountain.

View all 1 directives ↓
⚖️ 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
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 December 16, 1936, this order concerns Transfer of Lands From the Roosevelt and Pike National Forests to the Arapaho National Forest in the State of Colorado. Lands within the Roosevelt and Pike National Forests be, and they are hereby, transferred to the Arapaho National Forest as follows: FROM THE ROOSEVELT TO THE ARAPAHO NATIONAL FOREST All lands within the Roosevelt National Forest lying to the southward of the following-described line: Beginning at a point on the north line of Section 19, T. 2 S., R. 72 W., 6th P.M., where the hydrographic divide between Boulder…

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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Lands within the Roosevelt and Pike National Forests be, and they are hereby, transferred to the Arapaho National Forest as follows: FROM THE ROOSEVELT TO THE ARAPAHO NATIONAL FOREST All lands within the Roosevelt National Forest lying to the southward of the following-described line: Beginning at a point on the north line of Section 19, T. 2 S., R. 72 W., 6th P.M., where the hydrographic divide between Boulder Creek Drainage on the north and Clear Creek Drainage on the south, intersects said north line; thence westerly along said hydrographic divide to its point of intersection with the Clear Creek County boundary line near Kingston Mountain.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners

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
317
1,845 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
16.6
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 lands within the Roosevelt and Pike National Forests be, and they are hereby, transferred to the Arapaho National Forest as follows: FROM THE ROOSEVELT TO THE ARAPAHO NATIONAL FOREST All lands within the Roosevelt National Forest lying to the southward of the following-described line: Beginning at a point on the north line of Section 19, T. 2 S., R. 72 W., 6th P.M., where the hydrographic divide between Boulder Creek Drainage on the north and Clear Creek Drainage on the south, intersects said north line; thence westerly along said hydrographic divide to its point of intersection with the Clear Creek County boundary line near Kingston Mountain. FROM THE PIKE TO THE ARAPAHO NATIONAL FOREST All lands within the Pike National Forest in Bark and Jefferson Counties lying to the northward of the following-described line: Beginning at a point on the east line of T. 6 S., R. 72 W., 6th P. M., where the hydrographic divide between the South Platte River Drainage on the south and Clear Creek Drainage on the north intersects said east line; thence in a northwesterly direction along said hydrographic divide to its point of intersection with St. Augustine Peak on the boundary of Clear Creek County; also all lands in said Pike National Forest lying within Clear Creek County; also the following described tracts: 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 hitherto had such status. This order is to take effect on January 1, 1937. FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT

THE WHITE HOUSE, #signature

December 16, 1936.

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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (1)

Subsequent presidents who cited, amended, continued, or revoked this directive in later orders.

References Executive Order 7572—Modifying Executive Order No. 7513 of December 16, 1936, Transferring Lands From the Roosevelt and Pike National Forests to the Arapaho National Forest in Colorado
Franklin D. Roosevelt • 1937-03-09
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Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 7513 (Dec. 16, 1936), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-7513-transfer-lands-from-the-roosevelt-and-pike-national-forests-the.