The City of Albuquerque quietly started bulldozing a six-foot wide trail through sensitive areas of the Rio Grande bosque on Tuesday.

Advocates with the Bosque Action Team (BAT) who want to preserve the area’s wildlife habitats are up in arms about the new construction, calling for protection of the delicate ecosystem in the forest along the river.

The city released three proposed plans to BAT for developing nature trails on Monday. The next day Richard Barish, who’s part of the action team, went to walk the area with the city’s proposals in hand.

“And to my great surprise I discovered there were two bobcats already plowing a trail through the bosque,” Barish exclaimed.

The advocates say the city had promised to hold public meetings and gather public input before moving forward with development in the bosque.

A spokeswoman for the City of Albuquerque said the construction needed to start in order to lessen the impact on birds whose nesting season begins soon.