The BLM succumbed to public pressure in announcing this week that its plans to exterminate tens of thousands of wild horses now held in government corrals will be put on hold until the end of the fiscal year. But the danger to the horse herds isn’t over. Ditto for cows.

How so? Knappster is on the e-mail lists of most of the wild horse advocates in the country, so I get to read all of the chatter that passes back and forth, most of it anger and disappointment that erupts with each egregious act by BLM in its thorough mismanagement of the wild horse program

One thread seen in the past week really jumped out, though. Horse advocates are talking about some extreme countermeasures if and when the BLM starts bumping off horses. One idea that has been discussed in the open is the proposal to kill one cow for every horse that is put down. I’m not making this up. Horse groups are convinced the BLM is carrying water for cattle interests, moving horses of the public ranges so that cattle can be moved in. In a nutshell, they think there would be justice of sorts in a program of cow assassinations. The targets would be bovines grazing on public lands, especially lands that were set aside for wild horses and where the herds have been “zeroed out.”

So for all those cattle companies that are hoping for a quick final solution to the horse problem, you might want to consider the possible consequences. I don’t know how serious the horse groups are, but it would only take one person with a high-powered rifle to make this point in a way that would be hard to ignore.

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Say, can new Nevada supreme Court Justice Kris Pickering rule on eminent domain cases that might come before the court? Allegations surfaced weeks ago about efforts to get then-candidate Pickering to recuse herself from any cases field by the Laura Fitzsimmons law firm, which specializes in eminent domain disputes. Pickering reported the offer to law enforcement, which launched an investigation. I’ve got a feeling Pickering would like to hear those eminent domain cases, even though Fitzsimmons will try to have her removed. Can’t wait for that first one to come before the court …