Donald A. Drage, the son of Alfred and Rhoda Drage, was born on September 18, 1920 in Burley, Idaho and married Dixie Sorensen on September 28, 1940. After earning a degree in accounting at Snow College in 1939, he attended Utah State University and graduated with a BS in agriculture in 1945.

As an employee at the soil conservationist, State watershed planning party leader, State agronomist, and Resource Conservationist. He then worked as a natural resources planning consultant with Land Dane Consulting Firm and the Citizens Planning Corporation. In 1971, he initiated a pilot study in Wasatch County, Utah on integrating state and federal agencies to assist local planning interests with Natural Resource Inventories and Analysis. In 1973, he co-authored "Heber Valley Story," a report on the cooperative study in Wasatch County. He also co-authored a land use planning workbook based on the "Heber Valley Story" and served on a task force that conducted a statewide series of workshops for training elected officials in land use planning in 1974. He has received several awards from the Soil Conservation of America: Recognition Award for Leadership in Land Use Planning (1970), Certificate of Merit for Achievements in Resource Planning and Development (1973), and the Certificate of Merit for Originality in Presenting Natural Resources Data to Local Officials (1974).

Drage was a member of the Logan Country Club, the Soil Conservation Society, and was active in the Boy Scouts of America. He passed away on May 18, 2000.