LAWMAKERS GALLOP AHEAD WITH PLANS TO PROTECT WILD HORSES

Congress has galloped ahead with plans to protect a band of wild horses in the Missouri Ozarks.

By a unanimous voice vote, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee cleared the bill for action by the full Senate. The House overwhelmingly passed the bill in November and the full Senate could act by the end of the summer.

The bill's backers believe President Clinton will sign it into law.

"We are now nearing the home stretch," said Rep. Bill Emerson, R-Cape Girardeau, the lead sponsor of the bill in the House.

"As the battle cry back home goes" wild and free, let 'em be," Emerson said.

The bill would allow a herd of about 30 horses to continue to roam the Ozark National Scenic Riverways Park in southern Missouri as they have for at least 65 years.

Since 1990, the National Park Service has sought to remove the horses that roam along the Current and Jacks Fork rivers, contending they aren't native to the area. Park Service officials feared a larger herd would damage trees and plants and compete with native wildlife for food.

But the proposed roundup outraged area residents and resulted in the creation of the Missouri Wild Horse League.

The bill in Congress would cap the herd at 50 animals and permit the Missouri Wild Horse League to manage them.

The Park Service remains opposed to the measure even though officials acknowledged at a Senate committee hearing in March that the horses hadn't caused any substantial damage to the park.

The bill won't cost taxpayers a dime.

In 1994, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Park Service could remove the horses.

That prompted Emerson and other lawmakers to push for legislative protection for the herd.

"The bottom line is that this Congress is acting to restore some faith with the people," said Sen. Christopher Bond, who is sponsoring the Senate version with fellow Missouri Republican Sen. John Ashcroft.

"Congress trusts the local citizens to care for the horses and respects their desire to protect this local treasure," Bond said.

Doug Kennedy, a Poplar Bluff lawyer who represents the Wild Horse League, said the protection has been slow in coming.

He credits the league's grassroots efforts in keeping the issue alive.

Kennedy predicted that the horses soon will have federal law to protect them. "We are ready to celebrate," he said.