HORSE PATROLS MAY CEASE AT BATTLEFIELD

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 4, 1993                   TAG: 9303040215
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short
HORSE PATROLS MAY CEASE AT BATTLEFIELD
Mounted patrols at Manassas National Battlefield in Northern Virginia, which some park users say are crucial for safety there, may become a thing of the past as park officials look for ways to save money.
"We're looking at the scope of the program and the number of horses needed for protection and visitor services," park Superintendent Ken Apschnikat said.
By early May a six-person study committee is expected to recommend whether to keep, get rid of or reduce the size of the park's nine-horse patrol, which monitors the battlefield's rolling 5,000 acres.
The cost of operating stables at the battlefield and keeping the horses there runs about $59,000 annually, Apschnikat said.
The evaluation was ordered last month, shortly after Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt directed park officials to stop catering to high government officials and foreign dignitaries who were using the park's stables and horses for private pleasure.
- The Washington Post

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB