CF Project Planning & Execution 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In earned value management, the Schedule Performance Index (SPI) is calculated as:
- Planned Value ÷ Actual Cost
- Earned Value ÷ Planned Value (Correct answer)
- Earned Value ÷ Actual Cost
- Actual Cost ÷ Budget at Completion
Correct answer: Earned Value ÷ Planned Value
SPI = Earned Value (EV) ÷ Planned Value (PV); a value below 1.0 means the project is behind schedule.
Question 2: A forester is designing a timber sale contract. Which provision protects the agency if the contractor damages an undesignated leave tree?
- Performance bond
- Slash disposal clause
- Damage assessment provision (Correct answer)
- Stumpage rate escalator
Correct 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.
Question 3: The Critical Path Method (CPM) helps project managers primarily by identifying:
- The sequence of tasks that determines the shortest possible project duration (Correct answer)
- The budget required for each task in the work breakdown structure
- The number of personnel needed at each project phase
- The environmental risks associated with each project activity
Correct 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.
Question 4: Which type of project budget reserve is held by upper management and released only when an unforeseeable event occurs that changes project scope?
- Contingency reserve
- Management reserve (Correct answer)
- Operational float
- Baseline variance allowance
Correct 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.
Question 5: 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?
- Maximizing timber volume recovery
- Preventing sediment delivery to streams (Correct answer)
- Reducing reforestation costs
- Meeting carbon sequestration targets
Correct 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.
Question 6: 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:
- Accept the change immediately to capture cost savings
- Evaluate the change through a formal change control process (Correct answer)
- Reject the change without review since it alters the riparian zone
- Delegate the decision entirely to the contractor
Correct 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.
Question 7: 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?
- Categorical exclusion
- Environmental assessment (Correct answer)
- Biological opinion
- Land management plan amendment
Correct 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).
CF Project Planning & Execution 3
In earned value management, the Schedule Performance Index (SPI) is calculated as: