Sierra Club Vows to Block Secret Deal Giving Developer Access Through Yosemite
The Trump administration has reportedly spent over a year pressuring the National Park Service to cede land within Yosemite National Park so a private developer can build a road to an adjacent 83-acre property. The Sierra Club says this would break a 150-year commitment to protect the park and has pledged to use all available legal and political tools to stop the proposal. An appraisal of the land is already underway, according to the investigation by NOTUS.
The NOTUS investigation indicates the administration has spent more than a year pressing the National Park Service to surrender land inside Yosemite so a private developer can build a road to an adjacent 83-acre property, with an appraisal already underway. This proposal revives a decades-old effort that the Park Service repeatedly rejected and that the Sierra Club previously defeated in federal court. The news emerged just three days after the Park Service's 110th anniversary, and contradicts recent public pledges by Trump and Interior Secretary Burgum to safeguard national lands.
This story could set a significant precedent for how national park lands are treated under the current administration. If successful, the deal may encourage similar private access requests at other parks, potentially eroding the public-trust principle that has governed these spaces for over a century. The Sierra Club's pledge to fight the proposal through legal and political channels could generate sustained public attention and litigation, affecting how future administrations approach land-use decisions within protected areas. The outcome may influence public confidence in the durability of conservation commitments.