IDAHO By virtue of the authority vested in me by the act of June 4, 1897, 30 Stat. 11, 36 (U.S.C., title 16, sec. 473), and on the recommendation of the Secretary of Agriculture, it is ordered that transfers of the hereinafter-described national-forest lands, in Idaho, be, and they are hereby, made as follows: FROM THE LEMHI NATIONAL FOREST TO THE SALMON NATIONAL FOREST All lands now a part of the Lemhi National Forest lying East or North and East of a line beginning where the divide between Lemhi Union Gulch and Bruce Canyon joins the main divide between Birch Creek and Little Lost River and extending southerly along the main divide between Birch Creek and Little Lost River to the crest of Saddle Mountain, thence direct to the northwest corner of Township 6 North, Range 30 East, Boise Meridian, including that part in Lemhi and Clark Counties, Idaho, lying South of the Montana-Idaho State line. FROM THE LEMHI NATIONAL FOREST TO THE CHALLIS NATIONAL FOREST All lands now a part of the Lemhi National Forest not included in the above-described transfer. FROM THE TARGHEE NATIONAL FOREST TO THE SALMON NATIONAL FOREST Unsurveyed Sections 4, 9, 16, 21, 28 and Sections 14, 15, 22, 23, 26, 27, 34 and 35, Township 12 North, Range 32 East, Boise Meridian, and all that part of the Medicine Lodge Creek drainage West of Irving Creek drainage which is now a part of the Targhee National Forest. It is not intended by this order to give any publicly-owned lands a national-forest status which have not hitherto had such status, or to remove any publicly-owned lands from a national-forest status. FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT The White House, October 8, 1938.
Executive Order 7986 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
Executive Order 7986—Transfers of National-Forest Lands
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 1 min read (284 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
Transfers of the hereinafter-described national-forest lands, in Idaho, be, and they are hereby, made as follows: FROM THE LEMHI NATIONAL FOREST TO THE SALMON NATIONAL FOREST All lands now a part of the Lemhi National Forest lying East or North and East of a line beginning where the divide between Lemhi Union Gulch and Bruce Canyon joins the main divide between Birch Creek and Little Lost River and extending southerly along the main divide between Birch Creek and Little Lost River to the crest of Saddle Mountain, thence direct to the northwest corner of Township 6 North, Range 30 East, Boise Meridian, including that part in Lemhi and Clark Counties, Idaho, lying South of the Montana-Idaho State line.
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Sovereign State Governments & Localities
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 8, 1938, this order concerns Transfers of National-Forest Lands. Transfers of the hereinafter-described national-forest lands, in Idaho, be, and they are hereby, made as follows: FROM THE LEMHI NATIONAL FOREST TO THE SALMON NATIONAL FOREST All lands now a part of the Lemhi National Forest lying East or North and East of a line beginning where the divide between Lemhi Union Gulch and Bruce Canyon joins the main divide between Birch Creek and Little Lost River and extending…
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
▪
Transfers of the hereinafter-described national-forest lands, in Idaho, be, and they are hereby, made as follows: FROM THE LEMHI NATIONAL FOREST TO THE SALMON NATIONAL FOREST All lands now a part of the Lemhi National Forest lying East or North and East of a line beginning where the divide between Lemhi Union Gulch and Bruce Canyon joins the main divide between Birch Creek and Little Lost River and extending southerly along the main divide between Birch Creek and Little Lost River to the crest of Saddle Mountain, thence direct to the northwest corner of Township 6 North, Range 30 East, Boise Meridian, including that part in Lemhi and Clark Counties, Idaho, lying South of the Montana-Idaho State line.
▪
FROM THE LEMHI NATIONAL FOREST TO THE CHALLIS NATIONAL FOREST All lands now a part of the Lemhi National Forest not included in the above-described transfer.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities
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 1 (Maximum Authority)
§
"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
📐
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
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
Low Friction
Youngstown Jacksonian Tier
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%).
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
284
1,656 characters
Estimated Read Time
1 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
16
Post-Graduate Legal
Text size:
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I hereby exempt the said Francis T. Leahy from compulsory retirement for age for a period of one year ending October 31, 1939.
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📜
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 7986 (Oct. 8, 1938), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-7986-transfers-national-forest-lands.
