According to a recent report from CNN, a plan being considered by the Trump administration to allow a developer to use a portion of Yosemite National Park land is facing strong opposition from elected officials and conservationists, reflecting broader concerns about privatizing some of the country’s most cherished landmarks.
The National Park Service is considering a land exchange between a private Nevada-based developer and the park. The exchange would enable the firm to build a road that would allow easier access to an 83-acre plot of land where it plans to develop a small village of homes and retail property, according to documents and the developer’s attorney.
It’s a 25-mile drive along public roads to the plot, which is adjacent to the park, according to developer Kingsbarn Realty Capital’s lawyer, Lanny Davis. The developer aims to construct a much shorter access road that would cut through what’s now park land, Davis added. Kingsburn said in a later statement that if the proposal is approved, it would still be a 45-minute drive from the property to the Yosemite Valley floor.
The proposal is a workaround for NPS, which conceded in a budget proposal to Congress for this fiscal year that it does not have the legal authority to simply grant the land to Kingsbarn.
The Department of Interior, which includes the National Park Service, said there has been “no political pressure to reach a predetermined outcome” and that no final decisions have been made.
“Any land exchange or access proposal involving National Park Service lands would be subject to all applicable federal laws, regulations and Departmental policies, including required environmental review and public notification processes,” an Interior Department spokesperson told CNN in a statement.
The move would mark another attempt to allow private control of federally owned property. This follows efforts by the administration to reduce the size of federally protected land in Utah and to allow portions of Big Bend National Park in Texas to be used for border security infrastructure. It also underscores President Donald Trump’s efforts to reshape treasured sites, which have included orders from his administration to remove certain signs, rollback protections and reassign staff — actions that have put a strain on park rangers.
A union that represents NPS employees, including at Yosemite, said in an Instagram post that it is “appalled.”
“As stewards of Yosemite, the ceding of public lands for private interests is antithetical to what we stand for as employees of the National Park Service,” the Yosemite Leadership of National Federation of Federal Employees Local 465 said, adding that it is “incredibly concerned about the implications of this private development for the working conditions of an already overwhelmed staff.”
