David S. Smith Obituary (1956 - 2021)

Born Nov 01, 1956, David S. Smith attended R L Thomas High School in Webster, NY. View the obituary, post a memory, or share a photo about David S. Smith.

Graduation Year	Class of 1973
Date of Birth	Nov 01, 1956
Date of Passing	Dec 16, 2021
About	He received his BS from the College of Environmental Science & Forestry, Syracuse and attended the graduate program at Cornell University. On September 9, 1989 he married Heidi Claussen in Cooperstown. Dave was very involved in community youth sports, leading the Clayton Youth Commission for several years. His passion was coaching soccer, and watching his 3 sons play. This quiet, gentle man was all BUT when watching his sons compete on the soccer field, often disagreeing with ref’s decisions. Dave dedicated his professional career to the care and management of the New York State forest lands he loved so much, culminating as the top DEC forest manager in the western Adirondack and Tug Hill regions. As Regional Forester, Dave guided the professional forestry team in DEC’s Region 6. Among his many achievements is the advancement of the conservation easement program which grew to protecting 400,000 acres as working forest lands, including the Long Pond, Tug Hill and Cranberry Forest Conservation Easement tracts. The Tug Hill Tomorrow Land Trust recognizes the contributions Dave made throughout his career to the Tug Hill region, and will soon be dedicating a conservation area in Le Ray in his honor.