CORE Environmental Stewardship 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which of the following best describes a 'mast year' and its importance to wildlife?
- A year with exceptionally high hunter harvest numbers
- A year of abundant seed and nut production by trees, benefiting many animals (Correct answer)
- A year when migratory birds arrive earlier than normal
- A year designated for prescribed burns
Correct answer: A year of abundant seed and nut production by trees, benefiting many animals
Mast years are irregular periods of synchronous heavy seed production (acorns, beechnuts) that dramatically boost food availability for wildlife like deer, turkeys, and bears.
Question 2: Why is it important to keep lead-core fishing tackle out of waterways?
- Lead sinkers corrode and damage fishing line
- Lead contaminates water and poisons wildlife that ingest it (Correct answer)
- Lead attracts other metals that foul fishing gear
- Lead is too heavy and snags on the bottom
Correct answer: Lead contaminates water and poisons wildlife that ingest it
Lead from fishing weights and jigs can poison waterfowl, loons, and eagles that accidentally ingest them, causing neurological damage and death.
Question 3: What is the primary conservation benefit of maintaining wildlife corridors?
- They provide designated hunting zones separate from residential areas
- They allow animals to move between fragmented habitats, maintaining genetic diversity (Correct answer)
- They create buffer zones around urban areas to prevent human-wildlife conflict
- They mark boundaries between state and federal lands
Correct answer: They allow animals to move between fragmented habitats, maintaining genetic diversity
Wildlife corridors connect isolated habitat patches, enabling animals to migrate, find mates, and access resources, which prevents inbreeding and local extinction.
Question 4: When cleaning fish at a remote campsite, the most environmentally responsible disposal method is to:
- Bury entrails at least 200 feet from water and camp (Correct answer)
- Dump entrails directly into the water body where you fished
- Pack out all entrails in a sealed bag
- Leave entrails on shore for scavengers to find immediately
Correct answer: Bury entrails at least 200 feet from water and camp
Burying fish waste at least 200 feet from water prevents water contamination and reduces the attraction of wildlife into camp areas.
Question 5: Prescribed burns are used by land managers primarily to:
- Destroy invasive species root systems permanently
- Mimic natural fire cycles that maintain healthy ecosystem structure (Correct answer)
- Clear land for new recreational trail development
- Eliminate all woody vegetation from open areas
Correct answer: Mimic natural fire cycles that maintain healthy ecosystem structure
Prescribed burns replicate natural fire's role in nutrient cycling, reducing fuel loads, promoting fire-adapted plant species, and improving wildlife habitat.
Question 6: What is the purpose of a 'buffer zone' around a sensitive natural area?
- To provide additional hunting acreage adjacent to protected land
- To create a transition area that reduces impacts on the core protected habitat (Correct answer)
- To mark where recreational activities are completely prohibited
- To designate areas for future commercial development
Correct answer: To create a transition area that reduces impacts on the core protected habitat
Buffer zones act as transitional areas that absorb edge effects, filter runoff, and reduce human disturbance before it reaches the sensitive core area.
Question 7: A hunter using a lead-core bullet that wounds but does not recover a deer contributes most directly to which environmental concern?
- Soil acidification from bullet fragments
- Lead poisoning in scavengers like bald eagles and condors that feed on the carcass (Correct answer)
- Air quality reduction from bullet propellants
- Invasive plant spread from disturbed soil near the wound site
Correct answer: Lead poisoning in scavengers like bald eagles and condors that feed on the carcass
Fragments from lead bullets scatter widely in carcasses and gut piles; scavenging raptors ingest these fragments and suffer fatal lead poisoning.
CORE Environmental Stewardship 4
Which of the following best describes a 'mast year' and its importance to wildlife?