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Executive Order 8331 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority

Executive Order 8331—Enlarging the Upper Mississippi River Wildlife and Fish Refuge

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Wednesday, January 24, 1940
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6 min read (1,182 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 6 min read (1,182 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

The following-described tracts of land and land under water, acquired by the United States in connection with the improvement of navigation in the Mississippi River, and determined by the Secretary of the Interior to be suitable for the use of the Department of the Interior as a breeding place for migratory and other wild birds, game and fur-bearing animals, and fishes and other aquatic animal life, and for the conservation of wild flowers and aquatic plants, be, and they are hereby, subject to valid rights, added to and reserved as a part of the Upper Mississippi River Wildlife and Fish Refuge, established under the above-mentioned Act: Lock and Dam No. 4: Buffalo County, Wisconsin Tract B-248, aggregating 1.72 acres, more or less.

⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
🏛️ 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 January 24, 1940, this order concerns Enlarging the Upper Mississippi River Wildlife and Fish Refuge. The following-described tracts of land and land under water, acquired by the United States in connection with the improvement of navigation in the Mississippi River, and determined by the Secretary of the Interior to be suitable for the use of the Department of the Interior as a breeding place for migratory and other wild birds, game and fur-bearing animals, and fishes and other aquatic animal life, and for the…

Constitutional Assessment: Scrutinized through Article II, Section 2, this action exercises the President's constitutional role as Commander in Chief. Early Framers recognized broad executive discretion in commanding military forces during conflict, provided it remains bounded by congressional declarations and respects civilian domestic courts.

Key Directives & Operative Actions

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The following-described tracts of land and land under water, acquired by the United States in connection with the improvement of navigation in the Mississippi River, and determined by the Secretary of the Interior to be suitable for the use of the Department of the Interior as a breeding place for migratory and other wild birds, game and fur-bearing animals, and fishes and other aquatic animal life, and for the conservation of wild flowers and aquatic plants, be, and they are hereby, subject to valid rights, added to and reserved as a part of the Upper Mississippi River Wildlife and Fish Refuge, established under the above-mentioned Act: Lock and Dam No. 4: Buffalo County, Wisconsin Tract B-248, aggregating 1.72 acres, more or less.

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The above-described lands are under the primary jurisdiction of the War Department, and their reservation for the purposes set forth in this order shall be subject at all times to use by the War Department in connection with the improvement of the Mississippi River for navigation and the uses thereof, and the enforcement of laws and regulations thereon by the Department of the Interior shall be without interference with any existing or future uses or regulations of the War Department.

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It is unlawful for any person to pursue, hunt, trap, capture, willfully disturb, or kill any bird or wild animal of any kind whatsoever within the limits of this refuge, or to enter thereon except under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants

Policy Areas & Topics

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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 2 (Zone of Twilight)
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"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

"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.

Hamiltonian Stance: Strong Prerogative Support
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
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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.

⚖️ Discretionary Twilight Zone
38 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

Moderate Friction

Administers commerce or fiscal programs requiring ongoing statutory delegation and legislative oversight.

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

Moderate Friction

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%).
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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
1,182
6,357 characters
Estimated Read Time
6 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
12
High School
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

MINNESOTA AND WISCONSIN By virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States, and in order to effectuate further the purposes of the Upper Mississippi River Wildlife and Fish Refuge Act (43 Stat. 650), it is ordered that the following-described tracts of land and land under water, acquired by the United States in connection with the improvement of navigation in the Mississippi River, and determined by the Secretary of the Interior to be suitable for the use of the Department of the Interior as a breeding place for migratory and other wild birds, game and fur-bearing animals, and fishes and other aquatic animal life, and for the conservation of wild flowers and aquatic plants, be, and they are hereby, subject to valid rights, added to and reserved as a part of the Upper Mississippi River Wildlife and Fish Refuge, established under the above-mentioned Act: Lock and Dam No. 4: Buffalo County, Wisconsin Tract B-248, aggregating 1.72 acres, more or less. Lock and Dam No. 5: Wabasha County, Minnesota Tracts Wa-l05, 106, 107A, 121B, 135, and 147, aggregating 138.30 acres, more or less. Buffalo County, Wisconsin Tracts B-306A & B, 306C, 307A, 307B, 312, 313, 316, and 318, aggregating 63.87 acres, more or less. Lock and Dam No. 5A: Winona County, Minnesota Tracts Wi—42, 43, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 62, 63, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 82, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 103, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 114, 120, 125, 127, 132, 133,134, 139, 140, 141,142, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 157, 158A, 161B, 162, 163, 165, 166, 167A, 167B, 168, 170, 171, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179A, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 196, 197, 198, and 206, aggregating 2,757.45 acres, more or less. Buffalo County, Wisconsin Tracts B—7, 20, 31, 32, 33, 36, 37, 38, 41B, 46A, 46B, 47A, 47B, 49A, 49B, 49C, 49D, 54, 72A, 72B, 82, and 83, aggregating 445.65 acres, more or less. Lock and Dam No. 6: Winona County, Minnesota Tracts Wi—A, 2, 3, 6, 7A, and 9A, aggregating 103.38 acres, more or less. Trempealeau County, Wisconsin Tracts T—C2, part B, and Cl; and 18A, aggregating 40.01 acres, more or less. Lock and Dam No. 7: LaCrosse County, Wisconsin Tracts LA—5-1, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20A, 20B, 21A, 22A, 22B, 22C, 23, 24A, 26, 27A, 27B, 28, 29A, 29B, 30B, 39, 40A, 41, 42, 44, 45, 46, 47A, 47B, 48, 49, 50, 51, 55A, 55B, 55C, 55D, 55E, 59B, 60, 62, 63, 64, 064, 65, 66, 67A & B, 67C, 68, 69A, 69B, 69C, 69D, 69E, 70, 71, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78B, 79, 80, 81, 82A, 82B, 83, 87A, 87B, 87C, 87D, 87E, 87F, 87G, 87H, 871, 87J, 87K, 87L, 87M, 87N, 87-0, 87P, 87Q, 87R, 87S, 88A, 88B, 088B, 89, 089, 90, 090, 91, 091, 92, 93, 98, 098, 99, 099, 100A, 100B, 100C, 100D, 100E, 100F, 100G, 100H, 100-I, 100J, 100K, 100L, 100M, I00N, 100-0, 100P, 100Q, 100R, 100S, 100T, 100U, 100V, 101B, 105, 107, 108, 109, 110A, HOB-1, 110C, 110D, HOE, HOG, 110H, 110-1, 110J-1, 110J-2, 110K, HOL, HOM, HON, 110-0, HOP, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 124, 0124, 125, 126, 127, 130A, 131, 132, 133, 134A, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 146, 149, 150, 160, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 171, 197A & B, 198A & B, 199, 200, 201A, 201B, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 209, 210A & B, 212, 213B, 224, 225, 226A, 227A, 236, 237A, 238A & C, 240, 241, 245B, 248, 250, 254B, 255, 256, 257, 259, 260A, 260B, 261A, 261C, 261D, 263, 267, 268, 269, 270, 271, 272, 273, 280, 282, 283, 284A, 291A, 291B, 293, 294A & B, 301B, 301C, 302A, B, & C, 305, 307, 308A, 309, 311, 358, 382B, 383B, 386, 400, 405, 420, 427B, 427C, 428, 429A and 429B, together with all streets and alleys in Outers' Camp in the S½NE¼NE¼, sec. 1, T. 16 N., R. 8 W., 4th P. M., and in J. C. Perkin's Addition to the Town of Campbell, in the SE¼NE¼, sec. 1, T. 16 N., R. 8 W., 4th P. M., aggregating 4,982.02 acres, more or less. Trempealeau County, Wisconsin Tracts T—1A & B, 2, 3A, 3B, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8B, 14, 15, 16, and 17, aggregating 242.90 acres, more or less. Lock and Dam No. 8: Houston County, Minnesota Tracts H—116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124,125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130A, 130B, 131A, 131B, 132A, 132B, 133, 134, 135, 136, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 147A, 147B, 157, 159, 160, 165, 166, 175, 177, 185, 186, 187, 188A & B, 196, 197, 198A, 198B, 199A, 199B, 200, 209A, 209B, 210, 213, 230, 256, 257B, 261, 265B, 266, 267, 281, 282, 283, 293, 302A, 302B, and 311, aggregating 1,370.74 acres, more or less. LaCrosse County, Wisconsin Tracts La—4B, 5, 6A, 6B, 7, 8, 9A, 9B, 10, 11, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20A, 20B, 21, 23, 24, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 34, 35, 39, 40, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 49B & 73B, 49C, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58A, 58B, 63, 65,66, 67, 68, 69, 71B, 71C, 72A, 76A & 90B, 78A, 78B, 79,80,86A, 86B, 87, 88A, 88B, 94, 96, 97, 100B, 102, 105, 106, 0106, 108, 11 IB, 113, 125, 138B, 139A, 140A, and 140B, aggregating 2,214.47 acres, more or less. Vernon County, Wisconsin Tracts V—10, 11, 12, 13, 17, 18, 24A, 24B, 28, 30, 39, 40, 41B, 55A, 56A, 73B, 75A, 75B, 76, 90B, 90C, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 097, 98, 99, 105, 108, 109, 111, H3A, H3C, H4B, 115, 116, 117, 123, 124, 125, 126A, 126B, 127B, 127C, 128A, 128C-1, 132C, 133A, 133B, 134B, 136, 137A, 140, 148A, 148B, 149A, 149B, 150, 151, 0151, 152A, 153A, 153B, 154, 156, 166, 169, 0171, 173, 177, 184, 188, 189, 191, 192, 195, 205, 206, 208B, 209, 211, 223, 227, 229, 231, 241, 244, 245, 250, 256, 257, 258, 261, 262, 263, 264, 265, 269, 279, 280, 281, 282, 283, 284, 288, 296, 297, 298, 299, 300, 301, 305, 306, 307, 315, 316, 317, 319A, 327A, 328, 329A, 329B, and 334, aggregating 3,463.40 acres, more or less. The above-described lands are under the primary jurisdiction of the War Department, and their reservation for the purposes set forth in this order shall be subject at all times to use by the War Department in connection with the improvement of the Mississippi River for navigation and the uses thereof, and the enforcement of laws and regulations thereon by the Department of the Interior shall be without interference with any existing or future uses or regulations of the War Department. It is unlawful for any person to pursue, hunt, trap, capture, willfully disturb, or kill any bird or wild animal of any kind whatsoever within the limits of this refuge, or to enter thereon except under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior. FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT The White House, January 24, 1940.

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 8331 (Jan. 24, 1940), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-8331-enlarging-the-upper-mississippi-river-wildlife-and-fish-refuge.