Trump Administration Weighs Handing a Quarter-Mile Strip of Yosemite to a Private Developer for an Access Road

The Interior Department and a lawyer for Kingsbarn Realty Capital confirmed on Aug. 28-29, 2026 that the National Park Service has been discussing a land exchange giving the Nevada-based firm a piece of Yosemite National Park, or an interest in it, so the firm can build a sub-mile access road to the park entrance. NOTUS, which first reported the talks, said Park Service staff have worked on the directive since spring 2025 and put the strip at roughly a quarter-mile. Kingsbarn owns an adjacent 83-acre parcel and would supply replacement land of equal value.\n\nExchanging Park Service land to enable private development is unusual, and the legal justification is not public. NOTUS reported that Kingsbarn chief executive Jeff Pori began donating to Trump's campaign committee in October 2024, with no prior record of national giving; CNBC found no evidence the donations influenced the proposal.\n\nInterior said no final decision has been made and that any exchange would go through environmental review and public notice. Conservation groups oppose the plan.