CF Forest Management and Planning 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the purpose of a 'stand table' in forest inventory?
- A table showing timber prices by species
- A summary of the number of trees per acre by diameter class and species (Correct answer)
- A schedule of planned harvests over the rotation
- A listing of endangered plant species found in a stand
Correct answer: A summary of the number of trees per acre by diameter class and species
A stand table organizes inventory data by diameter class and species to characterize stand structure and stocking.
Question 2: Under the National Forest Management Act (NFMA), what must national forest plans ensure regarding timber harvesting?
- Maximum sustainable timber yield must be achieved on all suitable lands
- Harvests must be limited to areas where clearcutting is the only viable method
- Timber sales must maintain biological diversity and not exceed long-term sustained yield capacity (Correct answer)
- All harvested areas must be replanted with native species within 6 months
Correct answer: Timber sales must maintain biological diversity and not exceed long-term sustained yield capacity
NFMA requires national forest plans to ensure harvests maintain biological diversity and do not exceed long-term sustained yield on suitable lands.
Question 3: Which factor is most critical when scheduling harvests across a large forest landscape to maintain habitat connectivity?
- Maximizing the number of clearcut patches
- Distributing harvest units to preserve corridors of mature forest between openings (Correct answer)
- Concentrating all harvests in a single planning period
- Harvesting only south-facing slopes first
Correct answer: Distributing harvest units to preserve corridors of mature forest between openings
Maintaining forested corridors between harvest units allows wildlife movement and preserves landscape-level habitat connectivity.
Question 4: What is a 'prescription burn' as used in forest management planning?
- A mandatory herbicide application schedule
- A planned, controlled fire applied to meet specific resource management objectives (Correct answer)
- A legal requirement to burn slash after logging
- A fire suppression technique using chemical retardants
Correct answer: A planned, controlled fire applied to meet specific resource management objectives
A prescription burn is a carefully planned fire ignited under specified conditions to achieve defined vegetation, fuel, or wildlife habitat objectives.
Question 5: In the context of forest regulation, what does 'area regulation' mean?
- Limiting harvest to avoid regulated watersheds
- Controlling harvest by allocating equal areas to be cut each year or period (Correct answer)
- Regulating the number of permits issued per county
- Setting maximum basal area thresholds in protected zones
Correct answer: Controlling harvest by allocating equal areas to be cut each year or period
Area regulation controls harvest flow by designating equal areas for cutting each scheduling period to achieve sustained yield.
Question 6: What silvicultural objective does a 'commercial thin' primarily achieve?
- Establishing a new age cohort through seed bed preparation
- Removing merchantable trees to concentrate growth on higher-quality residuals and generate revenue (Correct answer)
- Eliminating invasive species from the understory
- Creating snags and down wood for wildlife habitat
Correct answer: Removing merchantable trees to concentrate growth on higher-quality residuals and generate revenue
A commercial thin removes merchantable trees to reduce competition, improve residual tree growth, and produce revenue from the removed material.
Question 7: A forester is designing a riparian buffer zone in a forest management plan. Which criterion is MOST important for determining buffer width?
- The market value of the timber within the buffer
- Stream order, slope gradient, and sensitivity of aquatic resources (Correct answer)
- The proximity of the buffer to the nearest road
- Whether the adjacent stand is even-aged or uneven-aged
Correct answer: Stream order, slope gradient, and sensitivity of aquatic resources
Buffer width is primarily determined by stream order, slope steepness, and the sensitivity of the aquatic system to sediment and temperature changes.
CF Forest Management and Planning 3
What is the purpose of a 'stand table' in forest inventory?