Junior ranger? That's great. Most rangers today couldn't pass that. This wasn't a test, but I wrote it for our training session a few years ago. I called it the Sierra Knowledge Battery (because law enforcement rangers have to take the Physical Efficiency Battery):
Sierra Knowledge Battery
1. "Sierra Nevada" means ______________________ and was first named so by ______________ explorers who saw the range from a distance in the year (extra credit!) ____________.
2. The Sierra Nevada range is composed mostly of ______________ (rock type) and is about ______________ miles long.
3. ______________________ is the geologic term used to describe the one big chunk of similar and contiguous rock that forms the entire range.
a. Extra credit: what are the discrete intrusions of rock called that have risen at different times and combined to form the Sierra? ______________________.
4. Mt. Whitney is the highest peak in ___________________.
a. Extra credit: recently proposed geologic theory suggests it is the highest because ____________ (that is, why is this part of the range higher than the rest and likely still rising?):
5. The Sierra formed above two of the earth's tectonic plates. They are the ______________ and the _________________ plates.
6. Name four threatened or endangered species that occur in Sequoia Kings.
7. In the mid-1990s, populations of Bighorn Sheep crashed. What two related factors combined to exacerbate their rapid decline?
8. Name two places in the park where you might see Bighorn Sheep.
9. In the winter of 2003, what animals were found that hadn't wintered in Sequoia Kings since the 1920s? Where were they seen?
10. Populations of two species of frogs have significantly crashed throughout the Sierra.
a. Name them.
b. What are the two major causes of mortality in the higher elevation species?
c. What major effort is currently underway in these parks to restore their habitat?
d. Extra Credit: this frog was once considered one species. How many distinct species is now proposed and what Sierra pass is the dividing line between them?
11. You're at Funston Lake in Sequoia Park and a huge white bird is swooping low over the lake, it skims the water and flies off with a fish in its talons. The bird is likely a __________________ .
12. The ________________ tree is the iconic symbol of These Here Parks.
13. To successfully reproduce, this iconic tree requires ¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬_____________ to prepare a suitable seed bed for seedling survival.
14. You're hiking at 12,000 feet and see a flower with a showy blue ball of flowers and an incredibly pleasant scent. You're looking at a _____________________.
15. You're driving up the road from Ash Mountain. You see a 6 foot tall plant with a huge white flower. What is it?
a. What animal is specialized to pollinate this plant?
16. Name two of the three native peoples who frequented what is now Sequoia and Kings Canyon parks?
17. Humans have likely lived in and around Sequoia Kings for as long as _____________ years.
18. Name three major Native American trading routes across the Sierra in Sequoia Kings.
a. Name two major high altitude (> 9,000 ft) camps used by Native Americans in summer.
b. Obsidian found at these camps - or anywhere in the Sierra - is from what general geographic area ______________ .
c. Extra Credit: name the Native American group that used the Kern drainage most extensively.
19. Name two major year-round Native American living sites in These Parks.
20. John Muir famously called the Sierra the "Range of _______________."
Then it seemed to me the Sierra should be called not the Nevada, or Snowy Range, but the Range of_____________. And after ten years spent in the heart of it, rejoicing and wondering, bathing in its glorious floods of __________, seeing the sunbursts of morning among the icy peaks, the noonday radiance on the trees and rocks and snow, the flush of the alpenglow, and a thousand dashing waterfalls with their marvelous abundance of irised spray, it still seems to me above all others the Range of __________, the most divinely beautiful of all the mountain-chains I have ever seen.
21. An NPS program has been set up by Congress to assess natural resources that exist in Sequoia Kings and other parks and to create strategies to follow and track changes. This is called the _______________________ Program.
22. Sequoia Kings has chosen 13 Vital Signs that indicate the relative health of the Sierra ecosystems. Name 4 of these Vital Signs.
23. Air pollution on the west slope of Sequoia Kings parks is especially bad because of an atmospheric phenomenon that occurs in the Central Valley called the ________________.
24. Although a major source of air pollution that effects the parks is from the Central Valley, much of it also comes from _________________ .
a. Heavy metals at places like Pear Lake may come from as far away as __________.
25. Glaciers present in the Sierra today are approximately how old: _______? This period of glacier formation was called ____________________ .
26. Name 2 glaciers in Sequoia Kings parks.
27. Some Foxtail pine are estimated to be as old as ___________________ . Tree ring cores that combine living and dead foxtail wood have created a contiguous-year record going back _____________ years.
a. Why are we still allowing this ancient wood to be burned?
28. Global Climate Change (aka global warming) is likely responsible for significantly (> 1,000 vertical feet since the 1920s) narrowing the elevational habitat range of what adorable critter ?
a. What behavioral factor is likely the cause of this?
29. The Whitney Survey of California explored and mapped the Sierra in the ______ (years) .
a. Name 3 of the members of the party.
b. Who said: "To coolly seat oneself at death's door waiting only for the fatal summons takes as sublime a type of courage as I know"
i. Where did he say it?
ii. What inspired him to so name the peak?
c. Which one was a draft dodger?
30. Which of the following animals hibernate: Belding's ground squirrel; California black bear; marmot; pika?
31. What spot in Sequoia Kings is the spiritual nexus of the entire universe?
32. The best way to prevent giardia infection is to __________________ .
33. Extra, extra credit: An 1890s equipment list in the Sierra Club Bulletin recommended taking lemons on a trip. Why?
34. What legendary Sierra mountaineer was rumored to carry a small anvil in his huge pack to repair shoes with on trips?
35. Who likely was the first person to climb Mt. Darwin? (Also the first person to climb Mt. Whitney by the Mountaineer's Route).
36. You're skiing along at about 8,000 feet in fresh powder. Underneath a large tree, you come upon a hole in the snow, a short set of tracks leads from the hole, then the tracks disappear. What's happening here?
37. "As I carefully and deliberately made my way down toward the notch, I scanned and re-scanned the northwestern face. Much of it was concealed by irregularities. Suddenly a fly droned past, then another, and another.
"The quest is nearing an end," I reflected.""
Who said that? Who was he searching for?
38. Final Question: There is only one real test to being a backcountry ranger: repeat the phrase "Wow, you're going to Mt. Whitney?!?" about 3,000 times where #1 and #3,000 are said with the same surprise, awe and deep respect that any person would attempt such a manly challenge.
