A team of biologists are keeping an eye on small mammals in cut blocks around Golden and four other sites in the province. What they’re looking for is the impact of logging on small mammal habitats. They have seen the how disruption affects species like the short and long tailed red-backed voles, deer mice, fishers, martens, weasels, and more. For instance, the voles have been known to leave an area after it has been logged for more than a decade before returning. Tom Sullivan is a small mammal biologist with UBC who has been working with silviculture forester Scott King at Louisiana-Pacific Corp. on a site just east of Golden. He and his team have preserved slash piles (woody debris left over and stacked after logging), and have set live traps to see if these piles are used as a habitat by small creatures.