BABBIT TO INVESTIGATE WILD HORSES DISPUTE IN MISSOURI

Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt will personally investigate the wild horses dispute in southern Missouri, U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson said.

Emerson received a telephone call from Babbitt late Friday about a National Park Service plan to remove about 20 wild horses roaming a stretch of Ozark National Scenic Riverways land between the Current and Jacks Fork rivers in Shannon County.

The Republican congressman from Cape Girardeau recently sent a letter to Babbitt asking him to intervene in the case.

"I simply brought the secretary up to speed on the matter," Emerson said. "I gave him a full history about the wild horses in the Ozark Scenic Riverways and how they are now part of the landscape.

"He assured me that nothing will happen with the horses until he can fully investigate the matter and that he expects to get back to me sometime in July. I am very pleased that the secretary is giving this matter his personal attention," said Emerson.

On June 15, a three-judge federal appeals court in St. Louis reversed a lower court ruling and vacated an injunction that had prohibited the park service from removing the horses. The lifting of the injunction prompted Emerson to write the letter to Babbitt.

"This is a prime example of why people get disgusted with the federal government. Those horses aren't hurting anybody. There's been a public outcry to leave them alone, but the National Park Service believes it should step in and utilize its `discretionary' authority and remove the herd.

"It's not what the people want, and I will help them fight this until justice prevails," said Emerson.