Project Planning & Execution Flashcards

In earned value management, the Schedule Performance Index (SPI) is calculated as:

Answer: Earned Value ÷ Planned Value

SPI = Earned Value (EV) ÷ Planned Value (PV); a value below 1.0 means the project is behind schedule.

A forester is designing a timber sale contract. Which provision protects the agency if the contractor damages an undesignated leave tree?

Answer: Damage assessment provision

A damage assessment provision specifies the financial penalty for each leave tree damaged or destroyed by the contractor, incentivizing careful operations.

The Critical Path Method (CPM) helps project managers primarily by identifying:

Answer: The sequence of tasks that determines the shortest possible project duration

CPM identifies the longest sequence of dependent tasks (the critical path), which sets the minimum time needed to complete the project.

Which type of project budget reserve is held by upper management and released only when an unforeseeable event occurs that changes project scope?

Answer: Management reserve

Management reserve is held outside the project cost baseline and is released only for unforeseen scope changes, unlike contingency reserve which covers known risks.

A forester conducting a timber sale must ensure that skid trails are closed and water bars installed by contract end. This requirement most directly reflects which best management practice goal?

Answer: Preventing sediment delivery to streams

Water bars and closed skid trails intercept runoff and prevent soil erosion, directly reducing sediment delivery to adjacent waterways.

During project execution, a contractor proposes a change that would reduce costs by 10% but also reduces the buffer between harvest units and a riparian management zone. The forester should:

Answer: Evaluate the change through a formal change control process

All proposed changes should go through a formal change control process to assess scope, schedule, budget, and environmental impacts before acceptance or rejection.

Which forest project planning document is required under NEPA for federal actions that may significantly affect the environment but is less extensive than an Environmental Impact Statement?

Answer: Environmental assessment

An Environmental Assessment (EA) determines whether a federal action's impacts are significant enough to require a full EIS, or results in a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI).