Trump Admin Considers Private Land Swap to Open Yosemite to Developer
The Interior Department is weighing a land-swap that would allow Kingsbarn Realty Capital to obtain a small parcel inside Yosemite National Park to build a new road connecting its adjacent Stanislaus National Forest property to an existing park road, potentially enabling future development. The plan would require exchanging park land for nearby property of equal or greater value, a move supporters call environmentally friendly and critics call a dangerous sell-off of public lands. Democratic senators Padilla and Schiff have threatened to block the deal, arguing it threatens conservation funding and public access, while the White House denies political pressure and says any proposal will follow the law with public involvement. The parcel represents only a tiny portion of Yosemite’s 750,000 acres, but opponents warn it could worsen crowding and ecological risks.