Las Vegas firm’s Yosemite road proposal draws protests

A Las Vegas realty firm is behind a proposed land swap with Yosemite National Park that is drawing objections from environmental groups.

While Kingsbarn Realty Capital says building a small private road from soon-to-be-residential units into the park would be minimally disruptive, some groups say they are alarmed that it could set a precedent for the privatization of national parks and public lands overall.

The realty firm, through a limited liability company registered in Nevada called Sanctuary at Yosemite, purchased parcels outside of the national park for $4 million in February 2024, according to records from the Mariposa County Property Assessor and the California Secretary of State’s Office. The parcels total 83 acres.

According to Kingsbarn’s lawyer, Lanny Davis, the firm plans to build residential housing on the western edge of Yosemite and is seeking an easement from the National Park Service to build a short, 700-foot private road linking to a highway inside the park. The company’s CEO, Jeff Pori, told The Washington Post in early September the planned units would be short-term rentals for tourists.

“It’s nothing large,” Davis said in an interview. “It’s a planned development, mostly involving small lodges and campsites.”

To build the road, Davis said federal regulations require Kingsbarn to buy a different parcel of equal value and cede ownership to the park service. Davis, a Washington, D.C., lawyer who served as special counsel to President Bill Clinton in the 1990s, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he believes a misinformation campaign has surrounded the project.

Jill Workman Anderson of North Las Vegas, a Sierra Club member, is among those who oppose the road construction. She and a handful of others gathered in protest outside Kingsbarn’s Summerlin office on Friday.

“I’m here because national parks are sacred,” said Anderson, a retired banker and Sierra Club member since 1989. “They belong to the American people, and they need to stay in our hands, not sold off to private individuals or industry. Nobody wants to lose their favorite place to a resort or a private mansion.”

Park service: Environmental laws apply

Davis said the private road is a near-necessity for the housing development. Without it, he said residents would have to drive 45 minutes on an unsafe, 11-mile dirt road.

“On air pollution alone, the environmental benefits are pretty clear,” Davis said.

Even though media reports have tied Pori, Kingsbarn’s CEO, to President Donald Trump through donations, Davis denies claims that Trump was somehow involved in the proposal. Davis is a frequent Trump critic on cable news shows.

The White House deferred to the Interior Department, the parent agency of the National Park Service, to comment on the proposal.

In a statement, the Interior Department emphasized that it has not agreed to the land swap. Davis said the company has yet to identify a parcel that the National Park Service is interested in acquiring.

“Any land exchange or access proposal involving National Park Service lands would be subject to all applicable federal laws, regulations and Departmental policies, including required environmental review and public notification processes,” the agency said. “No final decisions have been made.”

Still, some environmental advocates see this as one attack on public lands in a long line of them.

Christian Solomon, political chair of the Sierra Club’s Toiyabe chapter, stood in protest at the firm’s office Friday with a sign that read “It is not simply a road,” a reference to Davis’ previous media comments.

“We’re against this because, all across the country, we’re seeing that if they take an inch, they’re going to take a mile,” Solomon said.