Executive Order 8865 Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)

Executive Order 8865—Withdrawing Public Land for Use of the War Department for Combat Firing Ranges and Maneuver Purposes

•

Thursday, August 21, 1941

•

2 min read (362 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 Franklin D. Roosevelt on 1941-08-21, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "Withdrawing Public Land for Use of the War Department for Combat Firing Ranges and Maneuver Purposes." It outlines operative directives for executive department officers, delegating enforcement responsibilities and establishing official governance guidelines.

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

▪ CALIFORNIA By virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States, it is ordered that, subject to valid existing rights, the public lands in the following-described areas be, and they are hereby, withdrawn from all forms of appropriation under the public-land laws, including the mining laws, and reserved for the.

▪ This order shall take precedence over, but shall not rescind or revoke (1) Executive Order No.

▪ 6910 of November 25, 1934, as amended, so far as such order affects any of the lands in the above-described areas, and (2) Executive Order of January 24, 1914, creating Public Water Reserve No.

▪ This order shall be subject to the orders of the Secretary of the Interior of October 12 and 19, 1920, withdrawing certain lands under the provisions of the Reclamation Act of June 17, 1902 (32 Stat.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners

Total Words

362

1,902 characters

Estimated Read Time

2 min

@ 200 words / min

Flesch-Kincaid

9.1

Post-Grad reading level

Constitutional Polarity

+0.02

Framers' Alignment index

📜

Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 8865, Franklin D. Roosevelt (Aug 21, 1941). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-8865-withdrawing-public-land-for-use-the-war-department-for-combat-firing.

Official Document Text

Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)

Original Source →

CALIFORNIA By virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States, it is ordered that, subject to valid existing rights, the public lands in the following-described areas be, and they are hereby, withdrawn from all forms of appropriation under the public-land laws, including the mining laws, and reserved for the. use of the War Department for combat firing ranges and maneuver purposes: SAN BERNARDINO MERIDIAN T. 16 S., R. 10 E., secs. 25 and 26; T. 16½ S., R. 10 E., secs. 1 and 2; T. 16 S., R. 11 E., sec. 27, W½ ; secs. 28 to 34, inclusive; sec. 35. W½; T. 16½ S., R. 11 E., secs. 1 to 6, inclusive; T. 17 S., R. 11 E., secs. 1 to 6, inclusive; T. 14 S., R. 12 E., secs. 15, 17, 20, 21, 22, 27, 28, 29, 32, 33 and 34; T. 15 S., R. 12 E., secs. 3, 4 and 5; aggregating 25,254.99 acres. This order shall take precedence over, but shall not rescind or revoke (1) Executive Order No. 6910 of November 25, 1934, as amended, so far as such order affects any of the lands in the above-described areas, and (2) Executive Order of January 24, 1914, creating Public Water Reserve No. 14, so far as such order affects lots 10, 11, E½SW¼ sec. 6, T. 16½ S., R. 11 E. This order shall be subject to the orders of the Secretary of the Interior of October 12 and 19, 1920, withdrawing certain lands under the provisions of the Reclamation Act of June 17, 1902 (32 Stat. 388), so far as such orders affect the public lands in T. 16 S., R. 10 E., Ts. 16½ and 17 S., R. 11 E., and Ts. 14 and 15 S., R. 12 E.; and after the present national-defense emergency has been officially terminated, this order, so far as it affects such lands heretofore withdrawn for reclamation purposes, shall be without effect upon notice to the War Department by the Secretary of the Interior that the entire use of such lands is needed for reclamation purposes. FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT The White House, August 21, 1941.