The Trump administration is pursuing a deal to give a small sliver of land in Yosemite National Park to a private company for development, according to a report.
Four people familiar with the matter told NOTUS that the Trump administration has been trying to arrange a land exchange between the federal government and a Nevada-based company since Spring 2025, a move that would include handing over a tiny parcel of Yosemite to the private company. The move was noted as unparalleled — National Parks had previously sought only to expand their territory, rather than subtract from it.
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Federal government regulations hold that any land given to a private company must be exchanged for land of equivalent value, but this hasn’t previously involved giving away National Park land. The deals also haven’t been as secretive as this one.
The National Park Service said “no final decisions have been made on the matter,” but stressed that any deal “would be subject to all applicable federal laws, regulations, and Departmental policies, including required environmental review and public notification processes.”
“If a proposal advances, the [Interior] Department would follow established procedures to ensure appropriate coordination, transparency, and public involvement, consistent with federal law,” the spokesperson told the outlet.
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NOTUS reported that staff at the National Park Service have had meetings with real-estate developer and investment firm Kingsbarn Realty Capital every few weeks on orders from their superiors. The process has dragged on due to the unprecedented nature of the plan and the extensive regulations governing such a deal. The need for a land exchange of equal value requires the appraisal of Yosemite land, an extraordinarily difficult process.
The origin of the deal lies in a decades-old plan by Jeff Pori, the CEO of Kingsbarn Realty Capital, to build a short private road connecting his property to a thoroughfare of the park. The deal would only cede a quarter-mile strip of the park, but would break with a long precedent.
