The construction workers were digging trenches and laying pipeline to carry reclaimed wastewater to make snow. The work was proceeding after years of unsuccessful litigation, some of it involving Benally and the Save the Peaks Coalition.

When the operator didn't heed Benally's calls, Benally chained himself to the machine, surprising the operator, who had not seen Benally up to this point (the view out of that part of the cab is blocked by a part of the machinery).

"My intent was to make my point known - that this desecration was violating my rights, and it felt like it was the only way to make my point known, to be clearly heard," Benally said in court.

Law enforcement reported people kicking rocks and dirt into the ditches.

Benally, Benally's attorney and Coconino County prosecutor Stacy Krueger spent perhaps an hour making arguments as to whether Benally could have known he was trespassing in the construction area, which he said he had entered repeatedly at that point.

CONSTRUCTION ZONE

The construction zone was marked with signs at the base of Snowbowl Road and cones elsewhere.

"In the area that I went, there were no barriers," Benally said.