A Nevada-based property company is negotiating a Yosemite land swap deal that would transfer roughly 700 feet of national park land to allow it to build a private road, as the park simultaneously battles wildfires that have forced the closure of Highway 140.
Kingsbarn Realty Capital, based in Nevada, has been in discussions with the National Park Service for close to a year, according to a statement the company gave to Fortune. The talks centre on acquiring a strip of Yosemite land to connect the company’s adjoining property to Big Oak Flat Road, a few hundred feet away.
The Department of the Interior said no final decisions have been made and that there has been “no political pressure to reach a predetermined outcome”.
What the Yosemite Land Swap Deal Would Involve
Kingsbarn owns an approximately 83-acre parcel along the western edge of Yosemite National Park, generally known as Hazel Green Ranch. The company acquired two 40-acre parcels outside Yosemite in 2024, according to KTUL.
Hazel Green Ranch is described as historically significant, having served as a stagecoach route into Yosemite from the late 1800s into the early twentieth century. Its role as a park entrance ended when automobiles replaced stagecoaches.
Currently, reaching the property requires navigating roughly 11 miles of forestry roads through Stanislaus National Forest. The proposed road would eliminate that route for guests and residents.
Lanny Davis, an attorney representing Kingsbarn, told Fortune the company has agreed to build and maintain the road at its own expense to meet all federal, state and local standards. ‘It is good for the environment, keeps cars off the Forest Service roads, and helps ease congestion in, and around, Yosemite National Park,’ Davis said. ‘Clearly, these benefits are in the public interest.’
Davis confirmed that a direct purchase is not permitted under existing law. ‘A purchase of a right of way or even the actual property from the Park Service is not legal by a private developer,’ he said. ‘The only thing that’s a legal way of doing it is an exchange.’ The company said it has held around a dozen meetings with the National Park Service to find a lawful route forward.
Legal Questions Around Public Park Land
The legal framework governing transfers of national park land is not straightforward. The National Park Service states on its website that only government entities, including states, counties and municipalities, may acquire surplus federal property for park and recreational use through its Federal Lands to Parks programme.
The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management does allow for occasional sales of public land where planning finds it appropriate and in the public interest. To qualify, land must meet one of three criteria: it consists of scattered or isolated tracts that are difficult to manage; it was acquired for a specific purpose no longer needed; or disposing of it serves important public objectives such as economic development.
The Department of the Interior said in a statement that any proposal involving National Park Service lands would be subject to all applicable federal laws, including required environmental review and public notification processes. ‘If a proposal advances, the Department will follow established procedures to ensure appropriate coordination, transparency and public involvement consistent with federal law,’ the statement read.
ABC7 New York first reported that the Nevada-based developer had been working with the Trump administration on the proposed Yosemite land swap deal.
The negotiations are ongoing and the Department of the Interior has said no final decisions have been reached. Any formal proposal would trigger a public consultation process under federal law before any transfer could proceed.
