Developer says it is negotiating for a slice of Yosemite National Park

A private developer says it is negotiating with the National Park Service to obtain a roughly 700-foot strip of land inside Yosemite National Park to build a road to its adjacent property, a move that comes as the park system grapples with wildfires and flood damage.

Kingsbarn Realty Capital told Fortune it has been working on the deal for close to a year. The company owns an approximately 83-acre parcel known as Hazel Green Ranch, located just outside Yosemite’s western boundary. Kingsbarn says it needs the narrow stretch of park land to connect its property to Big Oak Flat Road, which sits a few hundred feet away. Currently, access requires driving about 11 miles of forestry roads through Stanislaus National Forest.

The Hazel Green Ranch property is historically significant, having served as a stagecoach route into Yosemite from the late 1800s into the early twentieth century. The route was replaced as an entrance when automobiles took over from stagecoaches.

The Department of the Interior, which oversees the National Park Service, said in a statement that there has been “no political pressure to reach a predetermined outcome” and that “no final decisions have been made.” The department added that any land exchange or access proposal involving National Park Service lands would be subject to federal laws, regulations, and departmental policies, including environmental review and public notification processes.

Kingsbarn said it has held a dozen meetings with the National Park Service to find a legal way to acquire the land. Rather than purchasing the strip outright, the company is pursuing a land exchange. Lanny Davis, an attorney representing Kingsbarn, said a direct purchase of a right-of-way or property from the Park Service by a private developer is not legal, making an exchange the only viable path.

“Hazel Green has agreed to build and maintain this road at its expense to meet all federal, state, and local standards,” Davis said. “It is good for the environment, keeps cars off the Forest Service roads, and helps ease congestion in, and around, Yosemite National Park. Clearly, these benefits are in the public interest.”

The discussions come as national parks face mounting pressure from natural disasters. The Grand Canyon has experienced severe flooding in the past week, damaging nearly 40 percent of its sole water pipeline and triggering search and rescue missions. That flood followed wildfires on the park’s northern edge in 2025, marking the second natural disaster there in a year. Yosemite itself is currently battling wildfires and has shut down Highway 140 as a result.

Legal questions surround the proposed transfer. The National Park Service’s FAQ site states that only states, counties, municipalities, and similar government entities may acquire surplus federal property for park and recreational use through the Federal Lands to Parks program. However, the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management says it does occasionally sell parcels of public land when land-use planning finds it appropriate and in the public interest. Such sales require meeting one of three criteria: the land consists of scattered, isolated tracts that are difficult to manage; the land was acquired for a specific purpose no longer needed; or disposal would serve important public objectives such as community expansion or economic development.

Davis argued the road project meets the public interest standard by reducing environmental impact and easing congestion around the park. The Interior Department said it would follow established procedures to ensure coordination, transparency, and public involvement consistent with federal law if a proposal advances.

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Derek Weston

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Derek Weston covers public affairs, politics, business, culture and daily news for Core Memo. The role focuses on verification, context, and clear explanations for readers.

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