Wire found across Pipestone trail system raises safety concerns

PIPESTONE, Mont. — A parent who rides with his family in the Pipestone Off-Highway Vehicle area said a wire stretched across a trail has left him worried about safety for trail users. 

Kale Hellwinkel said he was dirt biking with his family in the Pipestone OHV area near Homestake Pass during Memorial Day weekend, a place they often use for time outdoors. 

Hellwinkel said his daughter and her friend found a single wire across a trail. He said the friend ran into it by accident but was not injured. They told Kale about it, and he went to check it out. 

“I looked at how the wire was strung across and how it was tightened, and I said, 'Okay, this is not to keep livestock out,'" he said. "'This is a single wire with no posts anywhere near it. This is -- somebody has the intention of really hurting somebody here.'” 

The wire was tied to a stump from one end and a boulder on the other. Whoever hung it up used a stick to tighten it. Kale was able to take it down. 

Conflicts between different trail users at Pipestone OHV have increased in recent years, he said. Hikers, mountain bikers and dirt bikers users are all sharing the trails and did not always get along. 

“We all need to respect each other. And that's really hard to do in this day and age, especially in an area like that that's so heavily used," Hellwinkel said. 

Hellwinkel said he has also expressed concerns about drinking and driving on the trails and has wanted more law enforcement presence. 

He said he reported the incident to the U.S. Forest Service.  

“They're treating it as a felony and which I think is appropriate. These things do kill people, like it happens in other states. It's happened in this state before. People do it to snowmobilers. And now it's happening here.” Hellwinkel said. 

NonStop Local reached out to BLM, which manages the OHV area, but the agency said the wire was found on Forest Service land that directly connects to it. 

NonStopLocaal then reached out to the Forest Service for comment on the investigation and has not heard back at the time of publication. The Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest said in a social media post that it is continuing to investigate the incident. 

Hellwinkel is hopeful this incident will inspire more law enforcement presence on the trail system. 

"Even if we just had a little bit of law and order up there, some presence of a law enforcement agency, that would go a long ways if it was just like on the weekends," he said.