
                         THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
                 Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, June 9, 1994                    TAG: 9406090501 
SECTION: LOCAL                     PAGE: D3    EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA  
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT 
DATELINE: 940609                                 LENGTH: RALEIGH

SIERRA CLUB PICKS HUNTER AS ITS LEGISLATOR OF YEAR

{LEAD} State Rep. Howard J. Hunter Jr., D-Northampton, on Wednesday was named the N.C. Sierra Club's Legislator of the Year in a presentation at his office in Raleigh.

The Sierra Club praised Hunter for his willingness to tackle some of North Carolina's most pressing environmental problems.

{REST} The Sierra Club cited Hunter's sponsorship of legislation to regulate large corporate hog farms, his efforts to obtain adequate sewage treatment for the state's rural residents, his efforts to block a proposed hazardous waste incinerator in Woodland and his support of rural public transportation systems.

Hunter, 47, is a three-term member of the state House of Representatives from the 5th District, which includes Northampton, Gates and parts of Bertie and Hertford counties.

The award was presented as part of a rally by the Sierra Club and other environmental groups at the legislature Wednesday to support a bill that would earmark about $10 million a year for the state's parks system. The bill was approved last year by the Senate but stalled in the House Appropriations Committee.

by CNB