Overview
- News reports say Interior and National Park Service staff have discussed exchanging a small strip of Yosemite—reported at roughly 700 feet or about 1.1 acres—for other land so Kingsbarn Realty Capital can build a short access road from its adjacent Hazel Green Ranch property into the park.
- Kingsbarn owns an roughly 83‑acre parcel next to Yosemite and says the road would shorten travel on unpaved forest roads, improve safety, cut vehicle emissions, and be built and maintained at the company’s expense.
- Federal law limits Park Service land exchanges, which must be roughly equal in appraised value and are rare, and the administration had included the project on a list of possible Land and Water Conservation Fund transactions that Congress has not advanced.
- A bipartisan letter from 61 California lawmakers, conservation groups, retired park superintendents and park staff oppose the swap as a dangerous precedent for privatizing public lands and say they will press for rejection and likely legal challenges.
- The Interior says no final decision has been made and any exchange would require appraisals, NEPA environmental review, public comment and possible congressional notification, and observers expect further agency review and litigation if the proposal moves forward.