Clinton Eco-Campaign
Stunt Injures Eagle

BALTIMORE — A Fourth of July campaign stunt designed to bolster President Clinton’s hold on the environmental vote backfired when an eagle he released into the wild with great fanfare was promptly attacked by a pair of ospreys and splashed into the sea.

The release was intended to show Clinton’s support for the federal Endangered Species Act, and as it turned out, it spoke unintended volumes about the ESA:

— Nature herself is responsible for the "endangered" state of most species protected by the federal law. They have either been outhustled by other species or they have painted themselves into an evolutionary corner, and man has had no more to do with most extinctions than he did with that of the dinosaurs.

— When humans interject themselves into the act, their motives are not always pure, and satisfactory results are by no means assured.

A Coast Guard vessel providing security for Clinton’s show rescued the downed bird, which was taken to a wildlife rehabilitation center for treatment.