On Tuesday Rep. Brian Egolf , D-Santa Fe, spoke to about 75 protestors gathered at the capitol to express their opposition to a controversial land swap deal. While there is still a fight over whether the deal will go through, Egolf said he wanted the Legislature to slam the door on similar deals in the future. Calling the idea a “back room deal” Egolf said he would introduce a bill to prevent the State Land office from swapping land with private entities. Swaps with the federal government would still be allowed.

Is the White’s Peak public-private land swap deal northeast of Las Vegas, N.M. a fair deal? Or a tailor made land grab for private business? Of course it depends who you ask:

A spokeswoman for the state Land Office told The Independent politics is the reason behind Egolf’s efforts–because state Land Commissioner Pat Lyons is the only Republican in the executive branch.

A spokeswoman for the office said Egolf is misinformed, saying: “He is unfamiliar with the situation. [Our] general counsel has approached him several times for a full briefing [about the deal] and he declined.”