John A. Helms served as Professor of Silviculture and Head of the Department of Forestry and Resource Management. He is the author of 115 technical papers including the 1979 text Principles of Silviculture, chapters in three books and was Editor of SAF's 1998 Dictionary of Forestry.
He served twice as Chair of the Society of American Foresters' Forest Science and Technology Board and as the Society's President in 2005. He has provided testimony five times before the US Congress on topics of forest health, reforestation after wildfires, and forests in relation to global climate change. He is currently Board Member of The Forest Foundation, member of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative's External Review Panel, member of the US/Canada Forest Carbon Standards Committee, and Chair of the Jackson Demonstration State Forest Advisory Group.