Donald Trump wants to take part of Yosemite National Park to benefit a private developer next door. President Abraham Lincoln signed the Yosemite Grant of 1864 to establish Yosemite as federally preserved land. The grant preceded the creation of Yellowstone National Park in 1890, officially the first US National Park. Political leadership at Trump’s Interior Department have talked about the proposal for over a year and designated the issue as a “top priority”, according to some former National Park officials.
The deal involves a private land swap for Yosemite Park land for the purpose of building an access road to Yosemite and developing two 40 acre parcels on the newly swapped land from Yosemite Park. The developer, Kingsbarn Realty Capital, to make their investment highly profitable and serve their wealthy clients, wants a private access road connecting to Yosemite’s main thoroughfares. For the last two decades, the Park has said no; now with administration political contributions, the development company is lobbying the Interior Department to pressure Yosemite to grant an easement on Yosemite land to this private company for the company’s profit.
This attempt to take National Part land has serious implications for the more than 400 other national parks and historic sites around the United States. If this taking occurs, will resort developers not be incentivized to demand special land access to national parks for increased profit? The superintendent of Yosemite from 2020 to 2025, Cicely Muldoon, describing Yosemite as “a bellweather for the national parks”, commented that “If this can happen in Yosemite, it can happen anywhere in the national park system.” Both of California’s senators, Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, have condemned the proposal as corruption and claimed misuse of designated fund sources.
Yosemite has been the target of private developers since the late 1990’s. The private developer, Kingsbarn Realty Capital, sued the park in 2007, and a federal appeals court in San Francisco ruled against the developer in 2012. The developer renewed its offer in 2024 and was turned down again. The developer then renewed the issue again - with the Trump administration. Reports are that the proposal has become a priority for the new administration.
Another precedent already exists. On July 16, 2026, Trump reduced the National Monuments of Bears Ears by 85% and Grand Staircase-Escalante in Utah by 40%, taking away nearly 3 million acres for commercial development. The Interior Department claimed that “federal overreach” deprived “local people” of access to resources. Local people here means white people, I take it. Five Native American tribes associated with the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments include the Navajo Nation, Hopi, Ute Mountain Ute, Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation, and the Pueblo of Zuni. These tribes have ancestral ties to the region and have been involved in the stewardship and management of these lands. They are certainly local people and living on ancestal land.
The inspiration for the national parks of the United States dates far back in American history. The concept of saving America’s most beautiful places forever came from the American artist George Catlin. In 1832 he traveled the northern Great Plains, where he became concerned about the destruction of Indian civilization, wildlife, and wilderness as eastern settlements spread westward. He wrote, “by some great protecting policy of government... in a magnificent park...containing man and beast, in all the wild[ness] and freshness of their nature’s beauty!”
Catlin recognized the lasting beauty of the pristine lands of the West. He produced more than 500 paintings reflecting Native American life and culture. Today, many of his paintings are displayed at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in the George Catlin Indian Gallery. He was the prophet of the National Park system.
Today the National Park Service manages 433 individual units covering more than 85 million acres in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and US territories. Battlefields, seashores, historic sites, recreation areas, national rivers, scenic trails, heritage areas and many other sites comprise this American legacy for enjoyment and education today and for generations to come.
In 2025, there were more than 323 million recreation visits, including over 13 million overnight stays, with 26 parks setting new visitation records. This number of visits comes close to the current entire population of the US: 349 million. We Americans love enjoying the national patrimony handed down to us and our children by generation after generation of our forefathers.
To evidence his lack of regard for preserving and honoring America’s National Parks patrimony, Trump has cut nearly 3,000 positions of professional Americans employed to support the National Park sites. There were approximately 2,940 fewer employees at the end of 2025 than at the end of 2024, a reduction of 16.2%.
Abuse of care for our public lands shows up elsewhere. Other services dedicated to the care of our patrimony have also suffered losses: the National Forest Service had a net reduction of 5069 positions, 16% of the work force. The Forest Service has been managing wildland fire on National Forests and Grasslands for more than 100 years. Recall that 2024 was the most extreme year for forest fires on record, and 2025 ranked as the second-worst fire season since 2001. The Fish and Wildlife Service lost about 11% of its workforce. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), charged to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations, lost 1894 positions, a reduction of 19.4%. Responsible for the government’s largest public-land portfolio, BLM’s workforce shrank by roughly one-fifth in a single year.
These numbers are the Trump message to our country about our patrimony on this 250th anniversary of our dedication to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for every citizen. This land is our land. This land is your land. These promises to ourselves and all who follow us highlight our obligation to ensure that America’s treasures go with us into tomorrow for all those who come behind us.
Of particular importance for Americans is the preservation of our wild spaces, our pleasure of enjoying the out-of-doors, and our pride in sharing a legacy of love for the land and the wonders of America. Human activity in the wild places and the beautiful places must enhance and protect nature, not the other way round. Yosemite, our other park sites, the vast forests, mountains, magnificent lakes and rivers, the places of lasting national remembrance, and the sanctuary for our wild animals have value far beyond a profit and loss statement. Our national undertaking that our most beautiful treasures of land must not be the victim of Trump’s avarice is before us. Now is the time to hold the line.