Trump administration faces backlash over Yosemite park giveaway

A Friday report by NOTUS uncovered that the Trump administration has been discreetly attempting to transfer a 400-metre (0.25-mile) section of Yosemite National Park to Kingsbarn Realty Capital, a company associated with Nevada. This transaction would provide Kingsbarn with "exceptionally rare private access" to the park, as CEO Jeff Pori aims to construct a road linking a 33-hectare (83-acre) site acquired in 2024 to one of Yosemite's main roads. In return, the National Park Service would obtain land of equivalent value elsewhere in California, which has yet to be specified. This initiative is part of a larger trend of reducing conservation measures by the administration, including significant cuts to two national monuments in Utah and revoking restrictions on logging in national forests. The proposal has faced criticism from environmental organizations and the public, who see it as a transfer of public lands for private interests.