Bolton native
takes job as
national fire director

Dan Smith, the acting director with the N.C. Division of Forest Resources and a native of Bolton, is leaving state government to take a position as the national fire director with the National Association of State Foresters.

Smith started in the Division of Forest Resources in 1978 as a field forester in the New Bern district and has spent his entire professional life in the division. He worked as district forester in the Fairfield district prior to moving to Raleigh where he has directed the agency’s engineering services as well as administrative services and forest protection section.

From 2003 until May, Smith served as the deputy director for the division; since May 1, he has served as the division’s acting director.

“The citizens of North Carolina will sorely miss his strong leadership, experience and institutional knowledge about forestry, proper forest management and wildfire suppression,” said Bill Ross, the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary.

Smith said his decision to leave the Division of Forest Resources was a difficult one. Ultimately, he knew that taking on his new role would benefit greatly the nation’s efforts at wildfire suppression.

As an expert on fire behavior and the incident management system, Smith is well-suited to his new role.

While very active in fire management and emergency response in North Carolina, Smith served as an operations section chief and incident commander on the Southern Region National Incident Management Team for eight years and is currently a member of one of four national area command teams.

His new role will include working with the fire directors of the federal wildland fire agencies and helping mobilize state fire resources during times when high preparedness is needed.

Smith also will be responsible for recommending state actions and responses to emerging operational issues on a national level.

“We face many challenges today across the nation in our response to wildland fire,” Smith said. “We are seeing more forest fires and acres burned each year. That fact coupled with the addition of more and more people living in wooded areas where fires occur is placing more residents, emergency responders and firefighters in harm’s way. These are just a few of the priorities that we must find solutions to in the coming years. I am honored to have the opportunity to bring my experience and expertise to work for NASF and look forward to working with our federal and local partners.”

While Smith’s office is located at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, he will continue to reside in Wendell with his wife Mazie. The couple has a son, Hunter, 23.

Smith graduated from Acme-Delco High School in 1973 and N.C. State University in 1977 with a B.S. in forestry. He is the son of the late Tommy and Margaret Smith who were well known and respected residents of the Bolton area. Their seven children include Sue Biesendorfer of Mexico, Laura Newsome of Lake Waccamaw, Ira H. Smith of Sneads Ferry, Catherine C. Pleasant who resides in the home place in Bolton, Tommy Jr. of Lincolnton, Dan, and Col. Larry H. Smith of St. Cloud, Fla., who just returned from a tour in Iraq.