CALIFORNIA RPF LATEST 2026 CORE EXAM MANUAL
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS RATED A+
✔✔Habitat - ✔✔The site or area in which the plants or animals live. The unit area of the
environment synonymous with site.
✔✔Hardwood - ✔✔Wood produced by broadleaf trees; same as porous wood.
✔✔Heartwood - ✔✔The inner core of the woody stem or bole wholly composed of
nonliving cells and usually has a darker color.
✔✔Hectare - ✔✔A unit of land measure of about 2.471 acres.
✔✔Heeling In - ✔✔Placing small bundles of bare-root seedlings in a shallow trench or
hole and covering the roots.
✔✔Herbicide - ✔✔A chemical used for killing or controlling the growth of plants.
✔✔Humus - ✔✔Plant and animal residues of the duff which is in varying stages of
decomposition.
✔✔Hypsometer - ✔✔Instrument used to measure tree height using geometric or
trigonometric principles.
✔✔Intermediate Cuts - ✔✔Harvest of trees made before a final harvest.
✔✔Intolerance - ✔✔Inability of a tree to develop and grow in shade or in competition
with other trees.
✔✔Kerf - ✔✔Saw width of cut made by the saw. Basically sawdust residue.
✔✔Litter - ✔✔Organic materials on upper layer of the duff.
✔✔Log - ✔✔a) To cut and deliver logs.
b) Tree segments, usually eight to twelve feet in length and suitable for cutting into
lumber. Typically a merchantable log is sixteen feet.
✔✔Lookout - ✔✔A station used for detection of fires. Usually a tower at a high point so
a good view of the forest is available.
✔✔Lop - ✔✔To cut limbs from trees, whether standing, felled, or fallen.
✔✔Maturity - ✔✔Age beyond which growth stops or declines in a given species.
, ✔✔Mensuration - ✔✔Science of measurement of volume and growth and development
of individual trees and stands and of the products they produce.
✔✔Merchantable Log - ✔✔Size of a log, usually 16 ft., which is marketable.
✔✔Mixed Stand - ✔✔Less than 75% of the crowns in the stand are of the same
species.
✔✔Monoecious - ✔✔Having male and female flowers on the same plant.
✔✔Overrun - ✔✔Excess amount of lumber actually sawed from the logs compared to
the estimated volume from scaling.
✔✔Overstory - ✔✔Upper crown cover.
✔✔Pathology - ✔✔Study of the science of diseases of forest trees or stands, and the
deterioration of the products by the organisms.
✔✔Phloem - ✔✔Inner bark, just outward of the cambium, that translocates food made in
the leaves down to the branches, twigs and roots.
✔✔Photosynthesis - ✔✔Process by which plants manufacture food and oxygen.
✔✔Pole (size class) - ✔✔Name for trees less than 12 inch dbh. Young: dbh of 4 inches.
Small: 4 to 8 inch dbh. Large: 8 to 12 inch dbh.
✔✔Pruning - ✔✔The removal of live or dead stems from dead or living trees.
✔✔Pulpwood - ✔✔Wood cut or prepared primarily to be used in wood pulp manufacture
for paper products, etc.
✔✔Reforestation - ✔✔The natural or artificial restocking of an area with forest trees.
✔✔Rot - ✔✔Wood in a state of decay.
✔✔Rotation - ✔✔The period of years required to establish and grow a timber crop to a
specified condition of maturity.
✔✔Sapling (size class) - ✔✔A tree usually 3-10 ft. in height with a 2-4 inch dbh. Not
over 4 inch dbh.
✔✔Sapwood - ✔✔The light colored wood which conducts water and nutrients to the
crown of the tree.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS RATED A+
✔✔Habitat - ✔✔The site or area in which the plants or animals live. The unit area of the
environment synonymous with site.
✔✔Hardwood - ✔✔Wood produced by broadleaf trees; same as porous wood.
✔✔Heartwood - ✔✔The inner core of the woody stem or bole wholly composed of
nonliving cells and usually has a darker color.
✔✔Hectare - ✔✔A unit of land measure of about 2.471 acres.
✔✔Heeling In - ✔✔Placing small bundles of bare-root seedlings in a shallow trench or
hole and covering the roots.
✔✔Herbicide - ✔✔A chemical used for killing or controlling the growth of plants.
✔✔Humus - ✔✔Plant and animal residues of the duff which is in varying stages of
decomposition.
✔✔Hypsometer - ✔✔Instrument used to measure tree height using geometric or
trigonometric principles.
✔✔Intermediate Cuts - ✔✔Harvest of trees made before a final harvest.
✔✔Intolerance - ✔✔Inability of a tree to develop and grow in shade or in competition
with other trees.
✔✔Kerf - ✔✔Saw width of cut made by the saw. Basically sawdust residue.
✔✔Litter - ✔✔Organic materials on upper layer of the duff.
✔✔Log - ✔✔a) To cut and deliver logs.
b) Tree segments, usually eight to twelve feet in length and suitable for cutting into
lumber. Typically a merchantable log is sixteen feet.
✔✔Lookout - ✔✔A station used for detection of fires. Usually a tower at a high point so
a good view of the forest is available.
✔✔Lop - ✔✔To cut limbs from trees, whether standing, felled, or fallen.
✔✔Maturity - ✔✔Age beyond which growth stops or declines in a given species.
, ✔✔Mensuration - ✔✔Science of measurement of volume and growth and development
of individual trees and stands and of the products they produce.
✔✔Merchantable Log - ✔✔Size of a log, usually 16 ft., which is marketable.
✔✔Mixed Stand - ✔✔Less than 75% of the crowns in the stand are of the same
species.
✔✔Monoecious - ✔✔Having male and female flowers on the same plant.
✔✔Overrun - ✔✔Excess amount of lumber actually sawed from the logs compared to
the estimated volume from scaling.
✔✔Overstory - ✔✔Upper crown cover.
✔✔Pathology - ✔✔Study of the science of diseases of forest trees or stands, and the
deterioration of the products by the organisms.
✔✔Phloem - ✔✔Inner bark, just outward of the cambium, that translocates food made in
the leaves down to the branches, twigs and roots.
✔✔Photosynthesis - ✔✔Process by which plants manufacture food and oxygen.
✔✔Pole (size class) - ✔✔Name for trees less than 12 inch dbh. Young: dbh of 4 inches.
Small: 4 to 8 inch dbh. Large: 8 to 12 inch dbh.
✔✔Pruning - ✔✔The removal of live or dead stems from dead or living trees.
✔✔Pulpwood - ✔✔Wood cut or prepared primarily to be used in wood pulp manufacture
for paper products, etc.
✔✔Reforestation - ✔✔The natural or artificial restocking of an area with forest trees.
✔✔Rot - ✔✔Wood in a state of decay.
✔✔Rotation - ✔✔The period of years required to establish and grow a timber crop to a
specified condition of maturity.
✔✔Sapling (size class) - ✔✔A tree usually 3-10 ft. in height with a 2-4 inch dbh. Not
over 4 inch dbh.
✔✔Sapwood - ✔✔The light colored wood which conducts water and nutrients to the
crown of the tree.
