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Executive Order 5740 Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)

Executive Order 5740—Establishing the St. Marks Migratory Bird Refuge, Florida

Herbert Hoover Herbert Hoover
•
Saturday, October 31, 1931
•
2 min read (363 words)

Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis

Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.

This executive order, signed by President Herbert Hoover on 1931-10-31, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "Establishing the St. Marks Migratory Bird Refuge, Florida." It outlines operative directives for executive department officers, delegating enforcement responsibilities and establishing official governance guidelines.

Constitutional Assessment: Evaluated against the Fifth Amendment, this action touches upon property or economic rights. An early statesman would insist upon strict adherence to due process of law and the constitutional guarantee that private holdings shall not be encumbered or taken for public purposes without just compensation and lawful process.

Key Directives & Operative Actions

▪ That unsurveyed fractional section 1, township 5 south, range 1 east of the Tallahassee meridian, in Wakulla County, Fla., be, and the same is hereby, reserved and set apart for the use of the Department of Agriculture as a refuge and breeding ground for wild animals and birds, subject to existing valid rights.
▪ This refuge shall be known as the St.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
Total Words
363
2,146 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
17.9
Post-Grad reading level
Constitutional Polarity
+0.02
Framers' Alignment index
📜

Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 5740, Herbert Hoover (Oct 31, 1931). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-5740-establishing-the-st-marks-migratory-bird-refuge-florida.

Official Document Text

Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)

Original Source →
It is hereby ordered that unsurveyed fractional section 1, township 5 south, range 1 east of the Tallahassee meridian, in Wakulla County, Fla., be, and the same is hereby, reserved and set apart for the use of the Department of Agriculture as a refuge and breeding ground for wild animals and birds, subject to existing valid rights. The land involved has been withdrawn for lighthouse reservation purposes and is primarily under the jurisdiction of the Department of Commerce, and its reservation as a wild-life refuge is subject to the use thereof by said department for lighthouse purposes at all times, and the enforcement of law by the Department of Agriculture shall be without interference with any existing or proposed regulations of the Department of Commerce pertaining to its Lighthouse Service personnel and their duties on the reservation. It is unlawful within this reservation (a) to hunt, trap, capture, willfully disturb, or kill any wild animal or bird of any kind whatever, to take or destroy the nests or eggs of any wild bird, to occupy or use any part of the reservation, or to enter thereon for any purpose, except under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary of Agriculture; (6) to cut, burn, or destroy any timber, underbrush, grass, or other natural growth; (c) willfully to leave fire or to suffer it to burn unattended near any forest, timber, or other inflammable material; (d) after building a fire in or near any forest, timber, or other inflammable material, to leave it without totally extinguishing it; and (e) willfully to injure, molest, or destroy any property of the United States. Warning is given to all persons not to commit any of the acts herein enumerated, under the penalties prescribed by sections 106, 107, and 145 of chapter 4, title 18, United States Code (35 Stat. 1098 and 43 Stat. 98), or by section 10 of the Migratory Bird Conservation Act of February 18, 1929, United States Code, Supplement IV, title 16, chapter 7a, section 715 i (45 Stat. 1224). This refuge shall be known as the St. Marks Migratory Bird Refuge. HERBERT HOOVER The White House, October 31, 1931.