Kingsbarn CEO Jeff Pori paid $4 million for land outside Yosemite. Why Trump is now considering a private road through the park

Kingsbarn CEO Jeff Pori paid $4 million in 2024 for 83 acres just outside Yosemite National Park. Now, the Trump administration is considering a controversial land swap that could allow Pori to build a private access road through a small section of Yosemite, giving his property a much more direct route into the iconic national park.

The proposal has drawn criticism from conservation groups and former Yosemite officials, while the Interior Department says “no final decisions have been made” and denies that political pressure is driving the process, according to news outlet KQED.

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The proposal involves Kingsbarn Realty Capital, a Nevada-based real estate company that owns the land. The Trump administration is considering whether the National Park Service can exchange a roughly quarter-mile strip of Yosemite for land of equal value elsewhere in California.

The idea has triggered opposition from conservation groups and former Yosemite officials, while the Interior Department says no final decision has been made.

Why does the developer want a private road?

The 83-acre property, historically known as Hazel Green Ranch, sits just outside Yosemite's western boundary, about five miles from one of the park's giant sequoia groves.

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Its existing access road is more than 10 miles from a Yosemite entrance. Reaching Yosemite Valley from the property currently requires a circuitous drive of roughly 1.5 hours.

Kingsbarn CEO Jeff Pori wants to build a short road linking the property to one of Yosemite's main roads. That would provide unusually direct access to the national park. The land could potentially be developed into a hotel, resort or private residence, although no such development has been approved.

The $4 million land deal

Kingsbarn acquired the undeveloped 83-acre property through limited-liability companies in 2024 for $4 million.

The purchase revived an old dispute. The previous owner, California developer Lewis Geyser, had spent years trying to obtain permission for a private road through Yosemite while pursuing plans to develop the property as a resort.

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The Park Service rejected the proposal, and Geyser eventually sued the federal government. He lost in district court and again on appeal in 2012. The courts determined that he did not have a legal claim to a new private road because an existing access route was available.

Why is the proposal controversial?

Former Yosemite Superintendent Don Neubacher said the Park Service had already concluded that it lacked the authority to provide the requested easement.

“There was no legal right for this developer to have access into the Yosemite National Park,” Neubacher told KQED. “The only thing that’s changed is you have a new administration that just seems to be pro-development.”

Conservation groups argue that giving up even a small piece of a national park for private access could establish a troubling precedent.

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Neal Desai of the National Parks Conservation Association told KQED: “Our national parks right now are in crisis, and Yosemite National Park is in chaos.”

What would the land swap involve?

Under the proposal, the federal government would give up a roughly quarter-mile strip of Yosemite land or an interest in that land, while the developer would provide property elsewhere in California of equivalent value.

Before such an exchange could happen, the Park Service would need to determine the value of the Yosemite land and identify replacement property.

That valuation could be complicated because giving the private property direct access to Yosemite could dramatically increase its potential value.

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Trump administration denies political pressure

The Interior Department has rejected claims that officials are secretly trying to hand over national park land to a private developer.

“This story relies on anonymous allegations to manufacture a political narrative that simply is not true,” the department told KQED. “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 any land exchange would have to comply with federal law and undergo environmental review and public notification.

“No final decisions have been made,” it said.

Kingsbarn's attorney Lanny Davis also confirmed that the company is pursuing the land exchange. “It’s simply a road,” Davis said, arguing that the proposed route would not endanger endangered species.