Doug Walker (born January 11, 1952) is an American former politician who served for two terms as a Democrat in the Kansas State Senate, from 1989 to 1996.
His support in the Senate helped establish the 51-mile Prairie Spirit Trail that runs between Iola and Ottawa, which was added to the Rail-Trail Hall of Fame in 2011 for "acting as a vanguard for other rail-trail projects," became a Kansas State Park, and was designated as a National Recreational Trail by the U.S. Department of the Interior in October 2020.
[3][4] Around 2005, Walker became a proponent of and volunteer for the nascent Flint Hills Trail, a long-abandoned and overgrown rail bed running 117 miles between Osawatomie and Herrington.
[5] After leaving the Senate, he continued working as a teacher through the 2000s, ran a successful custom woodworking shop in Osawatomie, and also renovated the William Mills House, a property listed on the U.S. Register of Historic Places.
[6] In 2016, Walker attempted a return to politics, announcing a run for the Kansas House of Representatives against Republican Kevin Jones.