PRIORITIES

Trump’s Secret Plot to Give Part of Yosemite Away Exposed

A deal rejected during the Bush, Obama, and Biden administrations may finally come to fruition in MAGA 2.0.

The Trump administration has been secretly plotting to gift a portion of Yosemite National Park to a private developer, a new report claims.

The eyebrow-raising deal, which prior administrations rejected, would award a sliver of the iconic national park to a developer to pave a private road through the park that would likely spike the value of the developer’s nearby property, insiders tell NOTUS.

“Obviously this looks kind of unseemly, with the value of this property potentially exploding with the deal,” a person familiar with the situation tells NOTUS.

That source added, “It kind of smells, you know. It’s not quite right.”

The portion of Yosemite in question is near one of its most iconic sights, the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias, which President Abraham Lincoln signed a grant to protect during the American Civil War.

That road would connect an 83-acre private property to an existing road within Yosemite, giving it easy access to Yosemite Valley.

Reaching the popular valley from the property, which NOTUS reports could be developed into a hotel, resort, or private residence, now requires a roughly 90-minute circuitous drive. Cutting across National Park land, the property is just five miles from Mariposa Grove.

Real-estate developer and investment firm Kingsbarn Realty Capital owns the land. NOTUS reports that its CEO, Jeff Pori, has public business ties to people in Trump’s orbit.

Kingsbarn’s proposal for a private road is fully backed by the Department of the Interior and its political leadership, four sources familiar with discussions tell NOTUS. Those sources said Trump officials are pressuring the National Park Service to greenlight the deal—despite its rejection of similar proposals by the property’s previous owner during the Bush, Obama, and Biden administrations.

NOTUS writes that “staff are required to send regular updates on their progress to political appointees inside [Interior Secretary Doug] Burgum’s office.” The outlet adds that NPS staff are occasionally “berated by political staff” for not moving fast enough.

Play Video

“They want us to be responsive to the property owner and their lobbyists or people, and they want us to work with these folks,” an anonymous source told NOTUS.

Another told the outlet that the “political pressure being brought to bear is very unusual.”

Reached for comment, the Department of Interior insisted there has been no political pressure to reach a deal.

NOT AT ALL BEAUTIFUL

Trump Plot to Put His Face on National Park Pass Turns Ugly

Tom Latchem

“This story relies on anonymous allegations to manufacture a political narrative that simply is not true,” the department told the Beast in a statement. “There has been no political pressure to reach a predetermined outcome, and claims suggesting the Department is secretly working to hand over National Park Service land to a private developer are false.”

The department said “no final decisions have been made” about a deal in Yosemite. Public lands rules require that any land the Park Service chooses to surrender be replaced with land of equivalent value—something the department says it will honor if a deal is reached.

See more of our coverage in your search results.

ADD THE DAILY BEAST ON GOOGLE

Josh FialloBreaking News Reporter

Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.