Rep. Jim Costa (D-Fresno) is among four California lawmakers leading a bipartisan congressional effort urging Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to abandon a proposed transfer of federally managed public land within Yosemite National Park.
Costa, House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, and U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff are leading a group of 157 lawmakers opposing the proposal, according to a news release from Costa’s office.
The proposal would involve an approximately quarter-mile strip of federally managed public land within Yosemite and would facilitate access to a privately owned 83-acre ranch, according to the release.
The lawmakers said recent reporting indicates the Department of the Interior and National Park Service have been considering exchanging or conveying an interest in the strip of federal land to provide access to the private property.
In a letter to Burgum, the lawmakers argued that the proposal would provide a private benefit at the expense of publicly owned land.
“At its core, this proposal appears to provide a private benefit at the expense of land that belongs to all Americans,” the lawmakers wrote. “Any decision to relinquish public land to private ownership should be supported by a clear and compelling public benefit, not merely the economic interests of a private party.”
The lawmakers also questioned the potential use of Land and Water Conservation Fund authority to facilitate the exchange.
According to the release, the letter notes that the Senate Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee did not agree to move forward with the project because of congressional objections.
The congressional effort puts Costa, whose district includes parts of the Central Valley, among the lawmakers seeking to prevent the proposed transfer involving one of California’s best-known national parks.
The lawmakers characterized protection of publicly managed land as a bipartisan concern.
“Public lands belong in public hands,” they wrote. “Protection of public lands is a bipartisan issue, overwhelmingly supported by the American people from all walks of life.”
The letter calls on Burgum to abandon the proposed transfer.
