Abstract: A mat comprising shorter and longer lengths of tread portions cut from recycled tires and strung on cable is specially devised for protecting small-scale ground level ecosystems from destruction by crawler track propelled heavy equipment. To prevent earth and vegetation from being ripped up when the mat is removed after being pressed into the ground by equipment operated atop it, stiffened permanent airways, rectangular in plan view, are systematically distributed throughout the main central portion of the `hoe-chucking` mat, called such by virtue of boom-mounting excavators called `hoes`, which are forbidden (by regulations) entry to certain environmentally sensitive areas unless accompanied by mats to crawl on. The same mat can be swung through the air to knock branches off trees, but cannot be used as a blasting mat, though the service duty conditions endured in the company of hoes are comparably severe.