Archaeological mounds attract all-terrain vehicle (ATV) drivers. Not because of the antiquities or the view from the top. These people - and let it be clear at the outset, it is a small, noisy and damage-doing minority - want to conquer the mound, snap a picture for a souvenir and drive away for the next off-road challenge. Their tires leave ugly ruts in the ground into which surface runoff is channeled, detouring the natural course and disturbing the ecological balance.

The ATV drivers' two favorite archaeological mounds are in central Israel not far from Beit Shemesh: Tel Azeka and Tel Foded. These mounds were settled from the time of the Judean monarchy to the Byzantine period and contain water systems, hideout caves and other antiquities. They are located within the confines of the Jewish National Fund's British Park.

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The JNF has undergone a metamorphosis in recent years. Once considered a semi-secretive organization that dealt only with afforestation, it now welcomes visitors, is active in ecology and streambed rehabilitation and has become a well-oiled PR machine.

The war the JNF has decared on the ATVs goes well with its PR campaign to be considered more ecological. But the initiative to protect Tel Goded and Azeka came from the field. Adi Na'ali, JNF's director for the lowlands and coastal region, and the shepherds of Kibbutz Beit Nir have decided to put an end to the destruction of the mounds.

"First we put up medium-sized boulders," Na'ali says, which the ATVs shoved out of the way. So they moved to bigger boulders and metal poles in the ground. Then they put signs up explaining that passage would be permitted by one road only to protect the landscape. "We found that most of the off-road drivers didn't know they weren't allowed up there. Most of those I met in the field promised they wouldn't come back. A minority that keeps coming are younger people who come to conquer the spot and not enjoy a family outing."

The JNF has invested NIS 150,000-200,000 from its operating budget in barriers at Tel Goded. "It's a little difficult to market a project like this to foreign donors, though we continue looking." Na'ali says. The JNF is now building a wall that will hermetically seal off the way up to Tel Azeka for off-road vehicles. "This effort has born fruit," regional JNF ranger Eli Ben-Sheetrit says. "Two years ago Tel Goded was gleaming white from all the ATV trails. Now the vegetation is starting to come back. But, Ben-Sheetrit adds, "now we are seeing something new - cyclists riding off the trail who put up ramps so they can jump them with their bikes, and they are causing destruction."