A pair of bills were submitted to the State Legislature which would help move forward a proposed land exchange between the United States Forest Service and the state Mental Health Trust Authority.

House Bill 155 was introduced by Rep. Dan Ortiz (I-District 36) earlier last week, with Sen. Bert Stedman (R-District R) submitting Senate Bill 88 shortly after.

An agreement to initiate the swap was signed by both services in June 2015, which followed approximately eight years of negotiations that included input from a wide collection of communities, tribal organizations and environmental groups....