CALIFORNIA RPF LATEST 2026 COMPREHENSIVE TEST
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS RATED A+
✔✔As applied to the growth of an evenaged stand of trees, what is the term for the
point where the volumetric MAI is >0 and equal to the volumetric PAI? - ✔✔Biological
rotation age; culmination of MAI
✔✔There are multiple permit options for fuel hazard reduction - under the 'la malfa'
forest fire prevention exemption, what is the acreage limit? - ✔✔300 acres
✔✔A scale of 1:6,000 translates to how many feet on the ground per inch on a map? -
✔✔=6,000/12 inches (for a foot) = 500 feet
✔✔What California law requires forest practice regulations to address archeological
resources? - ✔✔Title 14, Article 12, Section 929 Archaeological and Historical
Resource Protection
✔✔List four environmental or topographic settings that are common locations of
prehistoric archaeological resources found on California timberlands - ✔✔Midden soil
(dark-colored, powdery soil caused by repeated cooking fires), near sources of fresh
water, flat areas at the confluence of two rivers, at margins of natural openings
(ecotones = edge areas), nearby oak trees
Ridgetops that provide travel corridors. If a spring is present at a ridgetop there is a
100% chance of finding a site
✔✔Of the following California legislative acts involving forestry, which one came first, in
chronological order: Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act, Forest Taxation Reform Act,
Registered Professional Foresters Act? - ✔✔Registered Professional Foresters Act =
1972 (passage) [effective in 1973]
Z'Berg-Nejedly = 1973 (passage) [effective in 1974]
Forest Taxation Reform Act = 1976
✔✔In the FPRs, what is the minimum stand acreage for defining "late successional
stands"? - ✔✔LSR = "stands of dominant and predominant trees that meet the criteria
of WHR class 5M, 5D, or 6 with an open, moderate, or dense canopy closure
classification, often with multiple canopy layers, and are at least 20 acres in size."
✔✔An agreement between the U.S. Secretary of the Interior and either a private entity
or a state, specifying the conservation measurers that will be implemented in exchange
for a permit that would allow the taking of a threatened or endangered species is called
a... - ✔✔Incidental Take Permit which must also be accompanied by a Habitat
Conservation Plan (HCP). The HCP ensures that the effects of the authorized take are
minimized and mitigated
,✔✔Using forest economics as the sole criteria when a project or transaction is
economically feasible, what condition must be met? - ✔✔You must achieve maximum
profit or maximum NPV
✔✔A written analysis of pre-harvest and post-harvest timber stand conditions and a
description of the silvicultural practices and systems to be used in lieu of the standard
methods in a Timber Harvest Plan (THP) is termed a __________. - ✔✔Alternative
prescription
✔✔Purposefully leaving a logging road reasonably impassable to standard production
to standard production four wheel-drive highway vehicles, and leaving a logging road
and landings in a condition that provides for long-term functioning of erosion controls
with little or no continuing maintenance is termed _______ under the FPRs. -
✔✔Abandonment
✔✔List 3 preventive practices to control forest insects, mites, and disease. - ✔✔All
would be related to maintaining forest health: 1) thin for appropriate stocking, 2) remove
brood material and excess CWD, 3) remove infected trees
✔✔For tax purposes, logging equipment is usually depreciated and roads are
amortized. By what taxation process is the cost of timber recovered by the forest
enterprise? - ✔✔Logging equipment = depreciated
Roads = amortized
Timber = depleted
✔✔List four of the genera Fagaceae found in North America. - ✔✔Fagus = beeches
Chrysolepsis = golden chinkapins
Notholithocarpus = tanoaks
Quercus = oaks
✔✔According to the CDFFP guidance concerning large old trees, what is the smallest
stand size area that must be disclosed in a THP when large old trees are present and of
potential significant adverse impacts pertaining to large old trees may occur? [sic sic sic]
-
✔✔http://bofdata.fire.ca.gov/board_business/other_board_actions/heritage_tree_petitio
n/heritagetree_guidance2_25_05.pdf
Even a single tree, if there are potential significant adverse impacts
(20 acres in other circumstances)
✔✔According to the FPRs, the planned program of forest stand treatments during the
life of a stand which consists of a number of integrated steps conducted in logical
sequence leading to or maintaining a forest stand of distinctive form for the level of
management intensity desired is called a ________. - ✔✔Silvicultural system
, ✔✔In California, name the three Cadastral Survey Base and Meridian Systems used to
facilitate and organize the Public Land Survey System in the State. - ✔✔Humboldt, Mt.
Diablo, San Bernardino
✔✔For northern California, list three salmonids that have been placed on the Federal
ESA list. - ✔✔Coho (Oncorhynchus kisutch)
Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytcha)
Steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss)
✔✔What is the difference between a stand's arithmetic mean diameter and its quadratic
mean diameter? - ✔✔Arithmetic mean simply adds individual measurements
(diameters) and divides by the number of measurements. Quadratic mean diameter is
the square root of the diameter at breast height of an individual tree squared, divided by
the total number of trees. More commonly it is calculated as the stand basal area,
divided by the number of trees * a constant (k) of .005454 for Basal Area in square feet;
QMD is more commonly used than arithmetic mean; for stands that have large
diameters and a wide range of diameters, the AMD and QMD are very different; Basal
area = k * N * (QMD)2 so you can move confidently between basal area and QMD; most
stand management diagrams, etc. use the QMD - partly because of this relationship,
partly because of long-standing precedent
✔✔As per the California Code of Regulations (14 CCR 895.1) what is the stream
condition where the stage of discharge fills the entire channel cross section without
significant inundation of the adjacent floodplain, and has a recurrence interval of 1.5 to
2.0 years - ✔✔Bankfull stage
✔✔List three of the four terms used to define "taking" under the Federal Endangered
Species Act? - ✔✔Harm, harass, kill
✔✔When the original cost of a natural resource, such as timber, is written off the books
as the resources are used, the accounting procedure is called - ✔✔Depletion
✔✔Under the CA FPRs, a THP is reviewed by Calfire first for acceptance for filing and
reviewed again before approval. Under the FPRs, what is the basic standard for a THP
to be accepted for filing? - ✔✔Plan is accurate, complete, and in proper order - then it is
filed
✔✔Regional Water Quality Boards and the State Water Resources Control Board in
California have the authority to require monitoring and reporting as a condition of any
applicable waiver of waste discharge requirements on THPs. What is the legislative
basis for this authority? - ✔✔Porter-Cologne Act
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS RATED A+
✔✔As applied to the growth of an evenaged stand of trees, what is the term for the
point where the volumetric MAI is >0 and equal to the volumetric PAI? - ✔✔Biological
rotation age; culmination of MAI
✔✔There are multiple permit options for fuel hazard reduction - under the 'la malfa'
forest fire prevention exemption, what is the acreage limit? - ✔✔300 acres
✔✔A scale of 1:6,000 translates to how many feet on the ground per inch on a map? -
✔✔=6,000/12 inches (for a foot) = 500 feet
✔✔What California law requires forest practice regulations to address archeological
resources? - ✔✔Title 14, Article 12, Section 929 Archaeological and Historical
Resource Protection
✔✔List four environmental or topographic settings that are common locations of
prehistoric archaeological resources found on California timberlands - ✔✔Midden soil
(dark-colored, powdery soil caused by repeated cooking fires), near sources of fresh
water, flat areas at the confluence of two rivers, at margins of natural openings
(ecotones = edge areas), nearby oak trees
Ridgetops that provide travel corridors. If a spring is present at a ridgetop there is a
100% chance of finding a site
✔✔Of the following California legislative acts involving forestry, which one came first, in
chronological order: Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act, Forest Taxation Reform Act,
Registered Professional Foresters Act? - ✔✔Registered Professional Foresters Act =
1972 (passage) [effective in 1973]
Z'Berg-Nejedly = 1973 (passage) [effective in 1974]
Forest Taxation Reform Act = 1976
✔✔In the FPRs, what is the minimum stand acreage for defining "late successional
stands"? - ✔✔LSR = "stands of dominant and predominant trees that meet the criteria
of WHR class 5M, 5D, or 6 with an open, moderate, or dense canopy closure
classification, often with multiple canopy layers, and are at least 20 acres in size."
✔✔An agreement between the U.S. Secretary of the Interior and either a private entity
or a state, specifying the conservation measurers that will be implemented in exchange
for a permit that would allow the taking of a threatened or endangered species is called
a... - ✔✔Incidental Take Permit which must also be accompanied by a Habitat
Conservation Plan (HCP). The HCP ensures that the effects of the authorized take are
minimized and mitigated
,✔✔Using forest economics as the sole criteria when a project or transaction is
economically feasible, what condition must be met? - ✔✔You must achieve maximum
profit or maximum NPV
✔✔A written analysis of pre-harvest and post-harvest timber stand conditions and a
description of the silvicultural practices and systems to be used in lieu of the standard
methods in a Timber Harvest Plan (THP) is termed a __________. - ✔✔Alternative
prescription
✔✔Purposefully leaving a logging road reasonably impassable to standard production
to standard production four wheel-drive highway vehicles, and leaving a logging road
and landings in a condition that provides for long-term functioning of erosion controls
with little or no continuing maintenance is termed _______ under the FPRs. -
✔✔Abandonment
✔✔List 3 preventive practices to control forest insects, mites, and disease. - ✔✔All
would be related to maintaining forest health: 1) thin for appropriate stocking, 2) remove
brood material and excess CWD, 3) remove infected trees
✔✔For tax purposes, logging equipment is usually depreciated and roads are
amortized. By what taxation process is the cost of timber recovered by the forest
enterprise? - ✔✔Logging equipment = depreciated
Roads = amortized
Timber = depleted
✔✔List four of the genera Fagaceae found in North America. - ✔✔Fagus = beeches
Chrysolepsis = golden chinkapins
Notholithocarpus = tanoaks
Quercus = oaks
✔✔According to the CDFFP guidance concerning large old trees, what is the smallest
stand size area that must be disclosed in a THP when large old trees are present and of
potential significant adverse impacts pertaining to large old trees may occur? [sic sic sic]
-
✔✔http://bofdata.fire.ca.gov/board_business/other_board_actions/heritage_tree_petitio
n/heritagetree_guidance2_25_05.pdf
Even a single tree, if there are potential significant adverse impacts
(20 acres in other circumstances)
✔✔According to the FPRs, the planned program of forest stand treatments during the
life of a stand which consists of a number of integrated steps conducted in logical
sequence leading to or maintaining a forest stand of distinctive form for the level of
management intensity desired is called a ________. - ✔✔Silvicultural system
, ✔✔In California, name the three Cadastral Survey Base and Meridian Systems used to
facilitate and organize the Public Land Survey System in the State. - ✔✔Humboldt, Mt.
Diablo, San Bernardino
✔✔For northern California, list three salmonids that have been placed on the Federal
ESA list. - ✔✔Coho (Oncorhynchus kisutch)
Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytcha)
Steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss)
✔✔What is the difference between a stand's arithmetic mean diameter and its quadratic
mean diameter? - ✔✔Arithmetic mean simply adds individual measurements
(diameters) and divides by the number of measurements. Quadratic mean diameter is
the square root of the diameter at breast height of an individual tree squared, divided by
the total number of trees. More commonly it is calculated as the stand basal area,
divided by the number of trees * a constant (k) of .005454 for Basal Area in square feet;
QMD is more commonly used than arithmetic mean; for stands that have large
diameters and a wide range of diameters, the AMD and QMD are very different; Basal
area = k * N * (QMD)2 so you can move confidently between basal area and QMD; most
stand management diagrams, etc. use the QMD - partly because of this relationship,
partly because of long-standing precedent
✔✔As per the California Code of Regulations (14 CCR 895.1) what is the stream
condition where the stage of discharge fills the entire channel cross section without
significant inundation of the adjacent floodplain, and has a recurrence interval of 1.5 to
2.0 years - ✔✔Bankfull stage
✔✔List three of the four terms used to define "taking" under the Federal Endangered
Species Act? - ✔✔Harm, harass, kill
✔✔When the original cost of a natural resource, such as timber, is written off the books
as the resources are used, the accounting procedure is called - ✔✔Depletion
✔✔Under the CA FPRs, a THP is reviewed by Calfire first for acceptance for filing and
reviewed again before approval. Under the FPRs, what is the basic standard for a THP
to be accepted for filing? - ✔✔Plan is accurate, complete, and in proper order - then it is
filed
✔✔Regional Water Quality Boards and the State Water Resources Control Board in
California have the authority to require monitoring and reporting as a condition of any
applicable waiver of waste discharge requirements on THPs. What is the legislative
basis for this authority? - ✔✔Porter-Cologne Act
