Executive Order 9790—Amending Executive Order No. 7926 of July 7, 1938, Establishing the Wheeler Migratory Waterfowl Refuge

WHEREAS the Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service (hereinafter designated as the Department) and the Tennessee Valley Authority (hereinafter designated as the Authority) have cooperated in the administration of the Wheeler Migratory Waterfowl Refuge, established by Executive Order No. 7926 of July 7, 1938, and renamed the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge by Proclamation No. 2416 of July 25, 1940; and

WHEREAS the Department and the Authority have engaged in studies of the boundaries of the said refuge, and have determined that certain adjustments in such boundaries are now desirable, and that additional adjustments will become desirable from time to time in the interests of the Government and of the public; and

WHEREAS pursuant to such studies and determinations the Department and the Authority have recommended the present elimination from the refuge of a certain tract of land hereinafter described, and have further recommended that provision be made for the elimination of other tracts from the refuge upon mutual agreement of the said agencies; and

WHEREAS it appears that such recommendations are consistent with the purposes of the Tennessee Valley Authority Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 831, 831a et seq.), and the Migratory Bird Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 715a et seq.), and are in the public interest:

NOW, THEREFORE, by virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States, and in the interest of the internal management of the Government, it is ordered that the said Executive Order No. 7926 of July 7, 1938, be, and it is hereby, amended by adding thereto at the end thereof the following:

"the following-described land consisting of one hundred thirty-three (1233) acres, more or less, in Morgan County, Alabama, is hereby eliminated from the said refuge, and all rights to the use of the land by the Department are hereby terminated with full jurisdiction over the land reverting to the Authority for the purposes of the Tennessee Valley Authority Act, as amended:

21, T.5S., R4W., on the left bank of the Tennessee River, approximately 1 ½ miles southeast of Keller Memorial Bridge across the Tennessee River at Decatur, and more particularly described as follows:

"Beginning at US-TVA Monument 58 (Coordinates: N. 1,671,716; E. 666, 664) in the line between sections 21 and 22, T.5S., R.4W;

"From the initial point by bearings and distances,

N. 53° 07' W., 3540 feet to a point in the east corporation boundary of the City of Decatur,

Northerly, with said east corporation boundary, 300 feet to a point,

S. 50° 07' E, 650 feet, to a point,

N. 78° 53' E., 330 feet to a point,

N 12° 53' E., 430 feet, to a point on the south bank of the Tennessee River,

Northwesterly, approximately 3900 feet to a point in the in between Morgan and Limestone Counties and the center line of the channel of the Tennessee River,

Southeasterly, with said county line and upstream with the center line of the channel, approximately 5690 feet to a point in the prolongation of the line between sections 21 and 22.

Southerly with prolongation of said section line, approximately 960 feet to a pint on the south bank of the Tennessee River,

Southerly with line between sections 21 and 22, approximately 1120 feet to the pint of beginning.

"The positions of corners and directions of lines are referred to the Alabama (West) State Coordinate System. The contour elevation is based on Mean Sea Level Datum as established by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey's Southeastern Supplementary Adjustment of 1936. The boundary markers designated 'US-TVA Monument' are concrete monuments capped by bronze tablets imprinted with the given numbers and 'T.5S., R.4W.'

"In the event that the Department and the Authority shall desire to exclude other lands from the said refuge, the parties shall enter into formal agreements designating the particular areas to be excluded and certifying that the exclusion of such areas is in the public interest and consistent with the Tennessee Valley Authority Act, as amended, and the Migratory Bird Conservation Act. Such agreements when formally executed and published in the FEDERAL REGISTER shall automatically eliminate the said lands from the refuge without further action by the President or otherwise."

HARRY S. TRUMAN

THE WHITE HOUSE,

October 14, 1946