HOUSE OKs BILL TO PROTECT OZARKS WILD HORSES

A five-year effort to protect the freedom of wild horses in the Ozarks neared completion Tuesday following a vote by the U.S. House of Representatives.

On an overwhelming voice vote, the House passed the Ozark Wild Horse Protection Act of 1995 sponsored by Rep. Bill Emerson, R-Mo.

If it becomes law, the bill will halt National Park Service and Department of the Interior efforts to stop a herd 25 to 30 horses from roaming the Ozark National Scenic Riverways in southern Missouri.

The legislation must be approved by the Senate and signed by the president. Missouri Sens. Christopher Bond and John Aschcroft said they will support the measure in the Senate.

"All told, the wild horses have become a symbol of American freedom and certainly a case in point of the little guy versus government bureaucracy," Emerson said on the House floor. "It is very clear that the horses should be allowed to freely roam the Ozark National Scenic Riverways, but due to an arbitrary decision by a local park superintendent, the National Park Service and the Interior Department, the issue now demands and deserves congressional attention."

In 1990 a now-retired park superintendent announced plans to remove the horses, which have roamed the region for at least 60 years.

The Missouri Wild Hose League will help manage the herd under Emerson's bill.

Emerson, who represents Missouri's 8th District, said not only have the horses never proven a nuisance to property owners, those same owners oppose removal.

Rep. Ike Skelton, a Democrat who represents Missouri's 4th District, voiced support for the measure. Skelton said the herd is part of the tradition, history and beauty of the region.

"It's a shame this has to be done," Skelton said. "The National Park Service ... should have let the horses stay where they have been some 60 years."