Trump Faces Criticism Over Possible Transfer of Yosemite Land to Private Developer
An investigation indicates that the Donald Trump administration is considering transferring a strip of approximately 400 meters of Yosemite National Park to a company linked to Kingsbarn Realty Capital, in exchange for another yet-to-be-defined piece of land.
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is facing criticism for contemplating the transfer of a section of Yosemite National Park to a private developer. An investigation cited by the South China Morning Post suggests that the government has been working quietly for over a year on an agreement to hand over a strip of about 400 meters of the renowned park to a company connected, through a network of entities, to Kingsbarn Realty Capital, a Nevada-based firm.
The potential agreement does not merely involve an administrative exchange of land but could alter access to a private property located next to one of the most well-known parks in the United States. According to published information, a limited liability entity controlled by Kingsbarn seeks to connect that land to one of Yosemite's main roads, a connection that would significantly enhance its real estate appeal.
A limited liability company controlled by Kingsbarn purchased a 33-hectare (equivalent to 83 acres) parcel of land just outside the boundaries of Yosemite National Park in 2024. The acquisition, by itself, was made on a property situated outside the park; the controversy arises because its CEO, Jeff Pori, reportedly sought a direct road connection to a main road within Yosemite.
The investigation by NOTUS, a news outlet cited in the report, indicated that this connection would provide the property with "exceptionally rare private access." This phrase summarizes the main value the project would hold for the owner: a road linking the land to the park's road system could change its development prospects and differentiate it from other properties located outside its boundaries.
The U.S. government has reportedly spent over a year working quietly on the transfer of the strip, according to individuals familiar with the discussions cited in the investigation. The report does not present the operation as a conventional sale but rather as an exchange in which the National Park Service would receive a piece of land of equal value in another area of California that has yet to be determined.
This element raises a central question about the proposal: how it would be established that the land offered in exchange has equivalent value for the public administration and for the protection of the park. The available information does not identify the location of the substitute parcel nor explain how the equivalence would be calculated, meaning the final design of the agreement is still undefined.
Criticism arises amid a series of decisions by the Trump administration that, according to the report, have been interpreted as a rollback of conservation protections for public lands. In July, the president reduced the size of two national monuments in Utah by more than 90%, a move that had already fueled debate over the scope of federal land protection policy.
The administration has also taken steps to end a rule prohibiting logging and road construction in national forests. The timing of these actions alongside the potential exchange in Yosemite has led critics to present the case as part of a broader agenda, although each decision pertains to different lands, regulations, and procedures.
Yosemite occupies a particularly sensitive place in this discussion because the potential transfer would not be limited to modifying an administrative map. The construction of a road connecting a private property to a main route of the park could change the relationship between public access and private use of a protected space, which is precisely the aspect that has raised concerns among those questioning the plan.
The proposal also exposes the tension between land exchange and conservation. From the formal perspective described in the report, the National Park Service would receive a parcel of equal value in California; from the critics' perspective, the location and connectivity of a strip within Yosemite could have an importance that is not fully reflected in an economic appraisal.
The published information identifies Jeff Pori as the CEO of Kingsbarn Realty Capital and notes that the company linked to the operation purchased the land outside the park in 2024. It also specifies that the Trump administration would have held discussions for over a year, but does not establish that the transfer has already been approved or that the private road has definitive authorization.
The approximate size of the mentioned strip is 400 meters, or 0.25 miles, while the property acquired by the entity related to Kingsbarn measures 33 hectares, or 83 acres. Both figures describe distinct pieces of the potential agreement: one corresponds to the segment of Yosemite that would be transferred and the other to the private land that would benefit from the connection.
The proposed exchange would also depend on identifying another parcel in California to be given to the National Park Service. As that land is yet to be determined, it is not possible to assess with the available data whether it would have comparable environmental characteristics, location, or access to the strip of Yosemite under discussion.
For now, the case remains in the realm of an initiative under consideration and a journalistic investigation into negotiations that may have developed discreetly. Public reaction focuses on the risk that an operation presented as an equal value exchange could end up granting a private owner a difficult-to-replicate access advantage, while the government continues to review the future of various protections over public lands.
-- Price
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