Yosemite Belongs to All of Us — Not Private Developers

Yosemite National Park is not a commodity. It is not real estate waiting for the right developer. It is public land entrusted to us to protect for our children, our grandchildren, and generations we will never meet.

Recent reports reveal that the Trump administration is considering a land exchange involving a portion of Yosemite National Park that could provide a private developer with direct road access between privately owned property and the park.

We are asking the Trump administration, the Department of the Interior, and the National Park Service to reject this proposal and protect Yosemite's existing boundaries.

This is bigger than one road.

If protected National Park land can be transferred to facilitate private development at Yosemite, one of America's most treasured national parks, we must ask what precedent that could create for other protected public lands.

National Parks Belong to the Public

Our National Parks exist because previous generations made the decision to preserve extraordinary places rather than allow every acre to be developed for private gain.

Yosemite represents that promise.

Private businesses already provide carefully regulated visitor services within National Parks. That is fundamentally different from transferring protected parkland in a way that could facilitate private real-estate development adjacent to the park.

We should not have to wonder whether America's most treasured landscapes will remain protected every time a developer sees an opportunity.

 

We Are Asking For:

1. No transfer, exchange, sale, or conveyance of Yosemite National Park land for the purpose of facilitating private development.

2. No private access road through Yosemite National Park benefiting an adjacent commercial or residential development.

3. Full public disclosure of any proposed land exchange, easement, road, or development agreement involving Yosemite.

4. Meaningful environmental review and public participation before any proposal affecting Yosemite's boundaries or protected resources moves forward.

5. A commitment from federal leaders that National Park boundaries will not be altered primarily to increase the development potential or commercial value of neighboring private property.

This Is About More Than Yosemite

Today it may be a strip of land and a road.

But decisions involving America's most famous National Parks can establish expectations for how public lands are treated in the future.

Yosemite belongs to the American people.

Its mountains, forests, waterfalls, wildlife, and open spaces should be protected because some things are worth more than their development value.

Whether you are Republican, Democrat, Independent, or politically unaffiliated, protecting America's National Parks should be something we can stand behind together.

Public lands should remain protected for public benefit.

Please sign this petition and share it with everyone who believes Yosemite should remain protected for generations to come.

Keep Yosemite Public. Protect Our National Parks. Stop the Yosemite land transfer.