FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact: Matt Dorsey
(202) 550-6987
September 1, 2026
Washington, DC – Today, the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE-IAM) denounces the Trump Administration’s proposed land trade between the National Park Service and real estate developer and investment firm Kingsbarn Realty Capital. This backroom deal would hand over a parcel of Yosemite National Park land in order to grant private access to the park for Kingsbarn’s 83-acre development on the western boundary of Yosemite.
“This deal is a slap in the face to the American people and National Park Service workers,” said NFFE National President Randy Erwin. “Since 1864 when President Lincoln federally protected the Yosemite Valley, this land has been preserved for the enjoyment and recreation of generations of Americans, past and present. We cannot allow any National Park land, via exchange or otherwise, to be given away in the interest of private profit.”
The deal has reportedly been privately negotiated since the spring of 2025, yet Kingsbarn’s land for its end of the deal has yet to be declared. The National Park Service has received the same privatization request in the past, going back over two decades, and has repeatedly rejected the proposal.
“This backroom deal follows the Trump Administration cutting National Park Service staffing by 25 percent, more than 4,000 permanent employees,” Erwin continued. “It is frankly disgusting that the President thinks he can decimate the federal agency tasked with the sacred mission of caring for our National Parks while essentially giving away those public lands so private firms can reap the rewards of spaces meant for the American public. This union and the National Park Service employees we represent strongly oppose this deal, as do Americans across the country.”
“Allowing Yosemite National Park to be sold off or traded to a private developer would set a very disturbing precedent,” concluded Erwin, “If we allow the Trump Administration to start trading or selling off our cherished lands in any way, that dam will burst wide open, and our cherished public lands will start to be sold off left and right. We owe it to our children to prevent that from happening.”