Overview
- Notus and other outlets reported on Friday that the Interior Department has for more than a year explored transferring or swapping an roughly 400‑metre strip of Yosemite to let Kingsbarn Realty Capital build a private access road.
- Kingsbarn bought a roughly 35‑hectare parcel next to the park in 2024 and its chief, Jeff Pori, seeks a road that would connect that land to a main park highway.
- The Interior confirmed it is in negotiations but stressed there is no final decision and said any action will follow environmental review procedures and public participation under federal law.
- Kingsbarn’s lawyer Lanny Davis argued the swap is legally allowed and would shorten travel, cut emissions and improve safety, while critics including the NPCA, park workers and Senator Adam Schiff called the plan a secrecy‑tinged favor that risks park access and habitat.
- The plan revives past rejected road bids, raises questions about the developer’s political donations, and could set a precedent for future park land transfers if the government moves forward through the NEPA process and land‑exchange rules.