WISCONSIN By virtue of the authority vested in me by section 32 of Title III of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act, approved July 22, 1937 (50 Stat. 522, 525), and as President of the United States, the following-described lands, comprising one acre, more or less, in Juneau County, Wisconsin, acquired under the authority of the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935, approved April 8, 1935 (49 Stat. 115), and transferred by Executive Order No. 7908 of June 9, 1938, to the Secretary of Agriculture for use, administration, and disposition in accordance with the provisions of Title III of the said Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act, are upon recommendation of the Secretary of Agriculture, hereby transferred from the Secretary of Agriculture to the Secretary of the Interior and, subject to valid rights, added to and reserved as a part of the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge, established by Executive Order No. 8065 of March 14, 1939, as amended by Executive Order No. 8319 of January 15, 1940: FOURTH PRINCIPAL MERIDIAN T. 18 N., R. 3 E., Sec. 13, that part of SE¼SE¼ bounded by the following-described lines: Beginning at a stake on the north line of the right-of-way of the Chicago and Northwestern Railway, formerly known as the Princeton and Western Railway, said stake bearing north 33 degrees east, 161 feet from the corner of Block 1, Original Plat of Necedah, said corner of Block being at the intersection of Main and First Streets (formerly known as Hilleboe's corner); thence north 9 degrees 15 minutes east 155 feet to a stake in the pond; thence north 77 degrees 30 minutes west 122 feet to a stake in the pond; thence south 61 degrees 30 minutes west 209 feet to a stake in the edge of the pond 6 feet north of dead birch tree; thence south 11 degrees 45 minutes west 52 feet to a stake on the north side of the railway right-of-way; thence south 84 degrees east along the right-of-way 292 feet to the point of beginning. (Magnetic variation for survey zero, November 24, 1898) FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT The White House, July 11, 1940.
Executive Order 8479 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
Executive Order 8479—Transferring Certain Lands From the Secretary of Agriculture to the Secretary of the Interior and Reserving Them as a Part of the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 2 min read (353 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
WISCONSIN By virtue of the authority vested in me by section 32 of Title III of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act, approved July 22, 1937 (50 Stat. 522, 525), and as President of the United States, the following-described lands, comprising one acre, more or less, in Juneau County, Wisconsin, acquired under the authority of the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935, approved April 8, 1935 (49 Stat. 115), and transferred by Executive Order No. 7908 of June 9, 1938, to the Secretary of Agriculture for use, administration, and disposition in accordance with the provisions of Title III of the said Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act, are upon recommendation of the Secretary of Agriculture, hereby transferred from the Secretary of Agriculture…
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Public Health & Medical Institutions
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 July 11, 1940, this order concerns Transferring Certain Lands From the Secretary of Agriculture to the Secretary of the Interior and Reserving Them as a Part of the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge. WISCONSIN By virtue of the authority vested in me by section 32 of Title III of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act, approved July 22, 1937 (50 Stat. 522, 525), and as President of the United States, the following-described lands, comprising one acre, more or less, in Juneau County, Wisconsin, acquired under the authority of the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935, approved April 8, 1935 (49 Stat. 115), and…
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
▪
WISCONSIN By virtue of the authority vested in me by section 32 of Title III of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act, approved July 22, 1937 (50 Stat. 522, 525), and as President of the United States, the following-described lands, comprising one acre, more or less, in Juneau County, Wisconsin, acquired under the authority of the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935, approved April 8, 1935 (49 Stat. 115), and transferred by Executive Order No. 7908 of June 9, 1938, to the Secretary of Agriculture for use, administration, and disposition in accordance with the provisions of Title III of the said Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act, are upon recommendation of the Secretary of Agriculture, hereby transferred from the Secretary of Agriculture…
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Public Health & Medical Institutions
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
353
2,054 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
17.5
Post-Graduate Legal
Text size:
Related Executive Orders
3 orders cited directly in this text, plus related actions from this administration.
EO 7908 Jun 9, 1938
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 7908—Transferring Certain Lands to the Secretary of Agriculture for Use, Administration, and Disposition Under Title III of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
All the right, title, and interest of the United States in the lands so acquired or in process of acquisition, be, and they are hereby, transferred to the Secretary of Agriculture for use, administration, and disposition in accordance with the provisions of Title III of the…
Franklin D. Roosevelt Post-Graduate Legal • 2m
EO 8065 Mar 14, 1939
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 8065—Establishing the Necedah Migratory Waterfowl Refuge
📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
The lands acquired by the United States and the intermingled public lands within the following-described area, be, and they are hereby, reserved and set apart, subject to valid existing rights, for the use of the Department of Agriculture, as a refuge and breeding ground for…
Franklin D. Roosevelt Grade 8 • 4m
EO 8319 Jan 15, 1940
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 8319—Changing the Name of the Necedah Migratory Waterfowl Refuge and Adding Certain Lands Thereto
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
The name of the Necedah Migratory Waterfowl Refuge, established by Executive Order No. 8065 of March 14, 1939, is hereby changed to Necedah National Wildlife Refuge. Sec. 2.
Franklin D. Roosevelt High School • 2m
EO 8481 Jul 12, 1940
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 8481—Exemption of Ernest G. Dodge From Compulsory Retirement for Age
📜 Art. II §3: Administrative Management & Civil Service
I hereby exempt the said Ernest G. Dodge from compulsory retirement for age for a period of one year ending July 31, 1941.
Franklin D. Roosevelt High School • 1m
EO 8480 Jul 12, 1940
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 8480—Excluding Certain Land From the Chugach National Forest and Reserving it for Townsite Purposes
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
The tract of public land in Alaska lying within the following-described boundaries be, and it is hereby, excluded from the Chugach National Forest: Turnagain Arm: Beginning at the triangulation point "Grass" (located by the Coast & Geodetic Survey and described as follows…
Franklin D. Roosevelt Grade 7 • 2m
EO 8478 Jul 10, 1940
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 8478—Authorizing Certain Appointments to Positions in the Welfare Unit, Public Buildings Administration, Federal Works Agency, Without Regard to the Civil Service Rules
📜 Art. II §3: Administrative Management & Civil Service
The following appointments, effective as of July 1, 1940, may be made in the Welfare Unit, Public Buildings Administration, Federal Works Agency, without compliance with the competitive requirements of the Civil Service Rules: Mrs. Clara H. Beach to a position of Senior Welfare…
Franklin D. Roosevelt High School • 1m
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Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 8479 (July 11, 1940), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-8479-transferring-certain-lands-from-the-secretary-agriculture-the.
