Donald Trump Wants to Give Part of Yosemite to Developers

According to inside sources, the Trump administration has proposed trading away a small parcel of land in California’s Yosemite National Park to a private developer. The proposal includes transferring a piece of land inside the park’s western boundary to a company controlled by Kingsbarn Realty Capital, a real-estate private equity firm based in Nevada.

According to NOTUS, Kingsbarn owns an 83-acre plot just outside the park and wants the Yosemite parcel to build a road connecting the plot to one of the park’s main roads. The road would give Kingsbarn’s land “exceptionally rare private access to a park that is otherwise almost entirely buffered by national forests.” Currently, Kingsbarn’s property sits more than 10 miles from a park entrance. Visitors to the property — whether it is developed into a hotel, resort, or private residence — would need to drive an hour and a half to reach Yosemite’s popular destinations under the current routes. The proposed connector road, which Kingsbarn’s attorney described as being only one mile long, would dramatically cut down travel time at the cost of developing historically protected land.

In exchange for Yosemite’s parcel, Kingsbarn would purchase land of equal value near Yosemite or somewhere else in California, and give it to the National Park Service. 

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This is not the first time the Yosemite parcel has been disputed over. The property’s previous owner, a California developer named Lewis Geyser, had spent years petitioning the Bush and Obama administrations to build the road on the land. After being repeatedly rejected by the National Park Service, Geyser sued in 2007, but lost at the Ninth Circuit in 2012.

Following Kingsbarn’s purchase of the land in 2024, the company almost immediately approached the government, bringing the twice-rejected proposal back to attention. This has raised concerns from conservationists and former National Park Service officials, as Trump’s Interior Department is pushing for the proposal, whereas the Obama and Bush administrations shot it down. If approved, the concerned parties believe that it could set a dangerous precedent, opening the door for public lands around the country to be sought after by companies for development.

“The national park idea started in Yosemite with Abraham Lincoln’s preservation of Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias,” Cicely Muldoon said in a NOTUS article. Muldoon is a 40-year veteran of the Park Service who served as Yosemite’s superintendent for about five years. “Our basic purpose in the national parks is to preserve these places unimpaired for future generations, not letting go of that for the purpose of private profit.”

“This is so ridiculous, it makes you sick,” Don Neubacher said in a New York Times article. Neubacher currently sits on the executive council of the nonprofit Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks.

The proposal also contradicts what President Trump said on Aug. 24 at the beginning of National Park Week: “My Administration is committed to protecting every acre of our lands and preserving the cleanest air and water in the world.”

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Kingsbarn bought its land outside the park back in 2024 for $4 million through a limited liability corporation called Sanctuary at Yosemite, according to property records. Lanny Davis, a Kingsbarn representative and Washington lobbyist, said that the company is seeking to develop an “upscale” community featuring cabins, homes, and commercial buildings. He argued that adding the connector road would allow visitors to travel into the park more easily. He also added that Kingsbarn had initially sought to buy the Yosemite land outright, but that a land swap was the only legal option, according to The New York Times.

Despite pushback from conservationists and other groups, Davis has publicly backed the proposal, calling it a “pro-environmental decision” that “does not endanger any endangered species, and is simply a road.”

In a proactive effort to fight it, California’s senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff said they were working with the Senate Appropriations Committee in an attempt to get the proposal rejected.

“This is the most corrupt administration in history,” Mr. Padilla said in a statement. “The Land and Water Conservation Fund exists to acquire land and interests in land to safeguard natural areas, water resources and cultural heritage — and to provide recreation opportunities for all Americans.”

Further raising questions about the proposal is a potential conflict of interest. NOTUS, along with multiple other outlets, has reported that Kingsbury CEO Jeff Pori made largely small-dollar donations to the Republican National Committee, the Trump campaign, and other associated political action committees. It was also reported that back in 2025, Kingsbarn had closed a deal to acquire a building owned by Kim Kardashian’s clothing brand Skims, working with two companies with ties to the Trump administration: the Newmark Group and Hankey Capital.

As it stands, the Interior has denied any “political pressure to reach a predetermined outcome” and said “claims suggesting the Department is secretly working to hand over National Park Service land to a private developer are false.” It also said no final decisions have been made.

While the proposal is still largely up in the air, the current state of protected lands under the Trump administration is hugely concerning for many Americans. For concerned groups like conservationists and former National Park Service staff, an approved proposal sets a dangerous precedent that public lands are up in the air for development.

For years, the National Park Service has protected beautiful parks across the country, including Yellowstone. If the service is utilized for making development deals, it counteracts everything it has stood for since its establishment in 1916.