Overview
- Multiple news reports this week say National Park Service staff have been examining a land exchange or easement that would let Kingsbarn Realty Capital build a short road through a roughly quarter-mile strip of Yosemite.
- Kingsbarn bought the 83-acre Hazel Green Ranch in 2024 and its attorney, Lanny Davis, confirmed the company is pursuing a land exchange with the Park Service to gain direct access to Highway 120.
- The Department of the Interior has publicly denied any secret deal or political pressure and says no final decision has been made, while agency staff are reported to be conducting appraisals and internal reviews.
- Any exchange would require a federal appraisal, identification of replacement land of equal value, and a formal environmental review and public comment process under NEPA, steps that have not yet been announced.
- Conservation groups, former Yosemite officials, park employees and several California lawmakers oppose the plan, court history shows a prior owner lost similar litigation, and legal challenges are likely if the proposal advances.