John Calhoun was a pioneer of consulting forestry in New England. Growing up, he spent summers on a farm in Cornwall, Connecticut, where his family owned Cathedral Pines—one of the most dramatic stands of white pine in the region. In the shadow of these giant trees, he developed a deep love for the woods and the hard work that came with managing them.

He went on to study forestry at Yale, balancing his academic pursuits with a passion for hockey. After graduating, John began his career in the woods with the St. Regis Paper Company in Stewartstown, NH. As his family grew, he and his wife, Rosemarie, relocated to Keene, New Hampshire, drawn by the region’s healthy forests, rich soil, and receptive landowners. The local audience was eager to listen to a forester advocating for controlled, marked selective harvests over the destructive clear-cutting practices common at the time. It was during this pivotal era in the early 1960s that John and a few other notable foresters established consulting forestry as a respected profession.

Above all, John argued that strong timber markets were the key to good forestry. He reasoned that if landowners could periodically profit from their property, they would value keeping it as working forestland rather than selling it off for development. Guided by this principle, he became an early champion of wood energy, recognizing it as a viable market for the millions of tons of low-quality wood growing in New England. His early vision proved remarkably accurate: wood energy remains a vital component of New Hampshire’s power grid today, and the market for low-grade forest products owes much of its strength to the foundation he helped lay.

John possessed a natural rapport with loggers and landowners alike, gifted with a sharp sense of humor and a genuine respect for differing points of view. Courageous in sharing his convictions, he never equivocated on where he stood, yet he always managed to deliver his message with warmth and wit. At his fingertips was a staggering repertoire of verses, songs, quotes, and anecdotes that seamlessly smoothed the path to imparting his perspective.

His leadership extended far beyond the forest. In Keene, he served as board chair for Cheshire Hospital and the Connecticut River Watershed Council, gave tirelessly to the Monadnock School Board, and was an early champion of the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests. In recognition of his career accomplishments, the Society of American Foresters Granite State Division named him Forester of the Year in 2003.

Demonstrating their commitment to land stewardship, John and his family permanently protected the Bingham Hill Forest—over 400 acres in Gilsum and Sullivan—in partnership with the Society. Today, it remains an actively managed working forest.

John passed away on November 3, 2010. He will always be remembered as a great mentor, a visionary leader, and a dear friend.