Trump admin wants to carve up Yosemite for a private developer

Political leaders at the Department of the Interior have reportedly pressured National Park Service staff to approve a land swap. The deal would hand a strip of Yosemite to a Nevada real estate firm that bought 83 acres near the park's western border for $4 million — a project dubbed "Sanctuary at Yosemite." The property sits about five miles from one of the park's ancient sequoia groves.¹

The Park Service rejected identical requests for more than two decades, and federal courts twice upheld those denials. Momentum shifted after the firm's CEO began donating to Trump's campaign and the Republican Party for the first time in late 2024. Interior officials are now actively pushing staff to approve the deal, reportedly berating those who resist.¹

The developer intends to build upscale single-family homes. Because residents would face a long drive to reach Yosemite, the company asked for a strip of park land to build a shortcut. The Park Service cannot sell public land outright, but it can pursue an exchange — and the Interior is already identifying a potential swap parcel.²

We will not allow our public land and water to become playgrounds for billionaires and corporate polluters. Tell Congress to oppose any land exchange or sale that opens Yosemite to private development.