Who is Senator Lamar Alexander?

As I noted last week, the death of U.S. Senator Craig Thomas cost the national park system a valuable advocate and ally in Congress. The loss of Senator Thomas ratchets up a notch the pressure on other senators and representatives to work for the future of the parks.
One senator who has a long track record of parks advocacy is Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, who in recent history has worked hard to prevent a drastic rewrite of the National Park Service's Management Policies, carried legislation that might clean the air over the parks, and opposed the Road to Nowhere in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
To learn a bit more about Mr. Alexander, take a look at this story from the Knoxville News Sentinel.