Trump officials seek to transfer Yosemite land to private developer, report says

A conception of Yosemite National Park could beryllium cordoned disconnected for backstage improvement astatine the petition of the Trump administration, a nationalist quality outlet reported Friday.

NOTUS, a watchdog governmental quality organization, reported Friday morning that Trump officials whitethorn beryllium moving with a backstage Nevada-based institution to speech astir a quarter-mile portion of Yosemite for an undetermined parcel of California backstage land.

Citing “four radical straight acquainted with discussions, arsenic good arsenic bureau documents,” NOTUS said the Trump medication had been successful talks with existent property and concern steadfast Kingsbarn Realty Capital since outpouring of 2025.

The Nevada-based institution reportedly owns 83 acres of onshore conscionable westbound of the National Park, and Kingsbarn CEO Jeff Pori allegedly wants to physique a roadworthy connecting the crippled with a main roadworthy wrong Yosemite, NOTUS wrote. Paving implicit the acquired portion of Yosemite onshore would let visitors connected Kingsbarn’s onshore to scope the National Park’s landmarks overmuch quicker than they would beryllium capable to arsenic it stands now, according to NOTUS.

Sources speaking to NOTUS said the firm’s petition is “backed by the afloat value of the Interior Department’s apical governmental leadership,” a assertion the section pushed backmost against Friday.

In a statement to aggregate outlets including Outside Magazine, a spokesperson for the Department of the Interior said: “This communicative relies connected anonymous allegations to manufacture a governmental communicative that simply is not true,” according to Outside. “There has been nary governmental unit to scope a predetermined outcome, and claims suggesting the Department is secretly moving to manus implicit NPS onshore to a backstage developer are false.”

A section spokesperson doubled down successful a connection to the New York Times, saying, “Any onshore speech oregon entree connection involving National Park Service lands would beryllium taxable to each applicable national laws, regulations and Departmental policies, including required biology reappraisal and nationalist notification processes.”

Kingsbarn Realty Capital had not publically addressed the claims arsenic of Friday afternoon.

CA Democrats, biology orgs react

California governmental leaders and biology organizations rapidly responded to the bombshell report, vowing to combat the woody earlier it goes through.

Sen. Alex Padilla successful a station to X linking to the New York Times’ reporting wrote: “Yosemite is not for sale.”

U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael and ranking subordinate of the House Natural Resources Committee, issued a connection connected X Friday greeting saying the parks bash not beryllium to backstage developers.

“These places should beryllium protected for each generation, not sold disconnected to Trump’s ultra-wealthy friends to nett disconnected of,” Huffman wrote. “I volition combat this, some for Yosemite and for each treasured parkland that would beryllium up for grabs if this domino falls.”

Environmental nonprofit Sierra Club stated that the woody would interruption a authorities committedness of much than 150 years, which promised to support Yosemite for “the nationalist good.”

“For much than 150 years, each procreation has carried guardant the work to support this ineffable scenery and walk it connected intact,” Sierra Club enforcement manager Loren Bradford wrote successful a statement. “The Trump medication is betraying that bequest by trying to manus parts of Yosemite to a backstage developer. We volition usage each instrumentality astatine our disposal to halt this corrupt giveaway.”

According to the Sierra Club, a national tribunal struck down a akin bid to physique a roadworthy connected National Park onshore to the aforesaid 83-acre crippled much than a decennary ago, aft National Park Service officials fought the petition alongside the environmentalist group.

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