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Executive Order 8492 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation

Executive Order 8492—Withdrawal of Public Land for Fire Lookout Station

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin D. Roosevelt
•
Tuesday, July 23, 1940
•
1 min read (299 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 1 min read (299 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

Executive Order No. 6910 of November 26, 1934, as amended, temporarily withdrawing all public lands in certain states for classification and other purposes, is hereby revoked so far as it affects a tract of public land in the SE¼SE¼ sec. 3, T. 32 N., R. 6 W. of the Mount Diablo meridian, described by metes and bounds as follows: From a point for fire lookout station in center of tract from which the comer of secs. 2, 3, 10, and 11 bears S. 46°40' E., 1454.4 ft. distant, thence S. 65° W., 105 ft., to a point on the southwest boundary of said tract; Thence from said initial point, by metes and bounds, N. 35° W., 105 ft.; N. 65° E., 210 ft.; S. 35° E., 210 ft.; S. 65° W., 210 ft.; N. 35° W., 105 ft., to the point of beginning; containing…

View all 3 directives ↓
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
Framers' constitutional debate ↓
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Sovereign State Governments & Localities 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 July 23, 1940, this order concerns Withdrawal of Public Land for Fire Lookout Station. Executive Order No. 6910 of November 26, 1934, as amended, temporarily withdrawing all public lands in certain states for classification and other purposes, is hereby revoked so far as it affects a tract of public land in the SE¼SE¼ sec. 3, T. 32 N., R. 6 W. of the Mount Diablo meridian, described by metes and bounds as follows: From a point for fire lookout station in center of tract from which the comer of secs.…

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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Executive Order No. 6910 of November 26, 1934, as amended, temporarily withdrawing all public lands in certain states for classification and other purposes, is hereby revoked so far as it affects a tract of public land in the SE¼SE¼ sec. 3, T. 32 N., R. 6 W. of the Mount Diablo meridian, described by metes and bounds as follows: From a point for fire lookout station in center of tract from which the comer of secs. 2, 3, 10, and 11 bears S. 46°40' E., 1454.4 ft. distant, thence S. 65° W., 105 ft., to a point on the southwest boundary of said tract; Thence from said initial point, by metes and bounds, N. 35° W., 105 ft.; N. 65° E., 210 ft.; S. 35° E., 210 ft.; S. 65° W., 210 ft.; N. 35° W., 105 ft., to the point of beginning; containing…

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Subject to valid existing rights, the tract of land described in section 1 of this order is hereby temporarily withdrawn from settlement, location, sale, or entry, and reserved for use as a fire lookout station in connection with Federal and State cooperative forest-protection work: Provided , that the use of the land by the State of California shall not interfere with the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey triangulation station South Fork Mountain, immediately adjacent.

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The withdrawal made by section 2 of this order shall remain in force until revoked by the President or by act of Congress.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners

Policy Areas & Topics

🏷️ Uncategorized
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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)
§

"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%).
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
299
1,635 characters
Estimated Read Time
1 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
9.3
High School
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

CALIFORNIA By virtue of the authority vested in me by the act of June 25, 1910, c. 421, 36 Stat. 847, as amended by the act of August 24, 1912, c. 369, 47 Stat. 497, it is ordered as follows: SEC. 1. Executive Order No. 6910 of November 26, 1934, as amended, temporarily withdrawing all public lands in certain states for classification and other purposes, is hereby revoked so far as it affects a tract of public land in the SE¼SE¼ sec. 3, T. 32 N., R. 6 W. of the Mount Diablo meridian, described by metes and bounds as follows: From a point for fire lookout station in center of tract from which the comer of secs. 2, 3, 10, and 11 bears S. 46°40' E., 1454.4 ft. distant, thence S. 65° W., 105 ft., to a point on the southwest boundary of said tract; Thence from said initial point, by metes and bounds, N. 35° W., 105 ft.; N. 65° E., 210 ft.; S. 35° E., 210 ft.; S. 65° W., 210 ft.; N. 35° W., 105 ft., to the point of beginning; containing approximately 1.01 acres. SEC. 2. Subject to valid existing rights, the tract of land described in section 1 of this order is hereby temporarily withdrawn from settlement, location, sale, or entry, and reserved for use as a fire lookout station in connection with Federal and State cooperative forest-protection work: Provided , that the use of the land by the State of California shall not interfere with the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey triangulation station South Fork Mountain, immediately adjacent. SEC. 3. The withdrawal made by section 2 of this order shall remain in force until revoked by the President or by act of Congress. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT The White House, July 23, 1940.

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Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 8492 (July 23, 1940), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-8492-withdrawal-public-land-for-fire-lookout-station.