1. United States
2. Texas
3. Letter

Protect Yosemite: Our National Parks Are Not for Sale I strongly urge Congress to stop any transfer, exchange, easement, boundary adjustment, or other conveyance of Yosemite National Park land for the benefit of a private developer. The Trump administration is considering a proposal that would allow a private real-estate developer to obtain an interest in land within Yosemite so it can build a road connecting its property to a major park roadway. I oppose this absolutely. It does not matter whether the parcel involved is one acre, two acres, or one hundred acres. Yosemite belongs to the American people. National park land should not be carved up because doing so would make an adjacent private development more convenient, accessible, or profitable. The precedent is extraordinarily dangerous. If Yosemite land can be exchanged to facilitate one private development, what principle prevents the next developer from asking for another road, easement, parcel, or boundary adjustment in Yosemite—or Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Glacier, or any other national park? For generations, Americans of every political persuasion have understood that our national parks are something we hold in trust for those who come after us. Their value cannot be measured merely by acreage or appraised dollar value. Once we establish that protected parkland is negotiable when a private developer offers something in exchange, we fundamentally change what protection means. The developer already owns its property and has existing access to it. The American public should not surrender Yosemite land simply to provide that property with more desirable access. Congress must act now, before this proposal advances further. I ask you to oppose any authorization, appropriation, land exchange, easement, or administrative action that would transfer control or use of Yosemite National Park land for this development, and to support legislation if necessary to prohibit it. Yosemite is not a real-estate opportunity. It is a national park. Keep every acre of Yosemite in public hands.