RENO, Nev.— Conservation and sportsmen’s groups have filed a formal protest against the federal government for moving forward on the Greenlink North energy transmission project, which would destroy tens of thousands of acres of greater sage-grouse habitat in central Nevada.

The transmission line, which will run 235 miles along the famed “Loneliest Road in America,” would also disturb or destroy dozens of the imperiled bird’s mating grounds, called leks. It would permanently alter one of the most isolated and remote landscapes in the lower 48 states.

“Greater sage grouse and Highway 50 are in the heart of the American West, and they’re beloved by conservationists and sportsmen alike,” said Megan Ortiz, a Nevada staff attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “That several groups from different corners are coming together to oppose this project speaks volumes about how truly horrible the Bureau of Land Management’s plan is.”

The protest was filed Monday by the Center, Friends of Nevada Wilderness, the Nevada Wildlife Federation, the Coalition for Nevada’s Wildlife, Nevada Bighorns Unlimited, and Backcountry Hunters and Anglers. It says the BLM failed to follow its own sage-grouse conservation plans when it issued a final proposed plan for the project in May.

The BLM’s 2015 sage-grouse management plans prohibit new transmission infrastructure in essential habitats where sage-grouse populations are declining, yet it is amending those plans to permit Greenlink North, paving the way for irreparable harm to the places sage grouse need to survive.

The iconic Western “dancing” birds are under threat because they are intensely loyal to particular areas, reliant on large expanses of intact sagebrush, and especially sensitive to disturbance and habitat fragmentation. Greater sage grouse need enough vegetation cover and nutrition to raise chicks, unaltered mating grounds called “leks” for reproduction, and sufficiently healthy winter habitat to survive the cold season.

Nevada’s stretch of Highway 50 is a largely untouched desert landscape with a single two-lane highway running through. Its sweeping Basin and Range topography has set the scene in novels, movies and television shows, and the highway encompasses portions of the historic Pony Express trail and Lincoln Highway. In addition to greater sage grouse, it is home to rich and diverse wildlife such as mule deer, elk, bighorn sheep, pronghorn, golden eagles, pygmy rabbits and burrowing owls.

“The Nevada Wildlife Federation understands our state’s need to update our electric grid. However, developing transmission routes solely based on costs while ignoring science, conservation and common sense is not the precedent that should be set,” said Russell Kuhlman, executive director of the Nevada Wildlife Federation. “We believe alternatives exist that would avoid critical wildlife habitat, preserve the ‘wildness’ of central Nevada, and use existing infrastructure. Listening to local communities and users of these lands like hunters and anglers should be considered when deciding how to address this issue.”

The transmission project will cost NV Energy ratepayers an estimated $2 billion.

Numerous groups have called for an alternative route to align the project along Interstate 80 in northern Nevada. This highway follows a more developed corridor, which would limit the harm of the transmission line.

“Interstate 80 is already a busy thoroughfare in Nevada that includes transmission lines and other development,” Ortiz said. “No reasoned analysis has been offered as to why rerouting the project to avoid ecological destruction isn’t possible. Nevadans deserve transparency about how their tax dollars are being spent, especially when it involves the reckless destruction of crucial wildlife habitat.”