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Reports of armed man led to closure

Campgroundā€™s safety concerns

By Greg Seubert


A plan to temporarily close a popular federal campground in northern Wisconsin stems from incidents involving a local property owner.

The Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest announced plans in January to close the campground, located in northwestern Oconto County, until further notice due to safety concerns.

Those concerns involve a man who lives near the campground, according to Ed Janke, chief deputy with the Oconto County Sheriffā€™s Department.

ā€œWe did have a couple complaints of an individual walking through the campground and he had an assault rifle,ā€ he said. ā€œHowever, there was nothing illegal about what that individual was doing.ā€

Janke declined to identify the man.

ā€œThere is an ongoing investigation and there may be charges,ā€ he said.

Deputies made contact last year with an armed individual walking through the campground.

ā€œCampers had made some after-the-fact reports to Forest Service personnel, who then later reported some of those things to us,ā€ Janke said. ā€œWe looked into those and there was nothing illegal. Thereā€™s nothing illegal about that gentleman walking through the campground.ā€

The campground is located in the town of Doty. Town Chairman Dick Kendall also declined to reveal the manā€™s identity.

ā€œWe acknowledge the fact that thereā€™s a safety concern and the concern is verifiable,ā€ he said. ā€œBeyond that, Iā€™ll leave that unanswered.ā€

The campground is currently closed and was scheduled to reopen May 1.

ā€œI know thereā€™s some concern for the safety of people, which I think needs to be in the forefront,ā€ Kendall said. ā€œI think the law enforcement officials for the county, National Forest Service and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources are doing the correct thing to make sure that peoplesā€™ safety comes first.

ā€œIf anything were to happen and somebody said, ā€˜Weā€™ll, you knew about this and you didnā€™t do anything,ā€™ I think this is an indication that law enforcement officials are doing the right thing,ā€ he said. ā€œTheyā€™re getting their heads together and making sure that the safety of area residents and those that visit the area are kept in the forefront. I think thatā€™s a good idea.ā€

ā€œWe had a conservation with the local landowners and specifically talked about the threat and made sure that the chairman of the town of Doty clearly understand where weā€™re at,ā€ Janke said. ā€œTheyā€™ve been in the conversation from the start. We clearly know what the threat is and what the threat is pointing toward. Weā€™re just doing the best we can.ā€

While the campgroundā€™s future is up in the air. Kendall and Janke didnā€™t rule out possibility of the facility opening later this year. That decision is up to the U.S. Forest Service, which owns and operates the campground.

ā€œItā€™s hard for me to project what the outcome of some of the issues that are before us will be,ā€ Kendall said. ā€œIf certain things corrected themselves to the point where those same law enforcement officials felt that the situation had been alleviated, Iā€™m imagining that the campground could reopen. Thereā€™s a reservation system, so to reactivate that reservation system, get the word out and post something that says, ā€˜all clear,ā€™ the stars would have to align correctly for that to happen.ā€

ā€œWe will be meeting with the Forest Service to re-evaluate where weā€™re at,ā€ Janke said. ā€œIf we can maintain the perspective that we have right now and if we can get everything worked out, we will certainly support the Forest Service in re-evaluating the situation and opening the campground. We canā€™t release all the information we have for a number of reasons, but all things considered, we certainly support the decision that the Forest Service made until we can stabilize the threat with regard to risk.ā€

Kendall believes the closed campground will have an effect on the local economy.

ā€œIā€™m not an economist, but if you figure two people in a campsite per night, thatā€™s 200 people or more out there buying charcoal, propane, fishing tackle, eating at different establishments,ā€ he said. ā€œYou would have to assume thereā€™s an economic impact.ā€

The campground has been a popular destination for decades and is only and hour away from Green Bay and 90 minutes from the Fox Valley.

ā€œIf somebody says, ā€˜You know what? My cousin, nephew and brother-in-law have had sites 37, 38 and 39 for 20 years and now we canā€™t go anymore,ā€™ that hurts,ā€ Kendall said. ā€œPeople say, ā€˜Well, you can go to Boot Lake (Campground) or one of these other lakes.ā€™ Guess what? Somebody else has gone and reserved sites at those lakes. Everybodyā€™s trying to make reservations with one of the campgrounds now pulled out of the system.

ā€œThe crush is during the months of May to September,ā€ he added. ā€œYou pull that away and it destroys a lot of fun for a lot of people that are simply looking to come up and enjoy being outdoors.

ā€œIā€™ve been town chairman for eight years now and I donā€™t ever remember a campground closing,ā€ he said. ā€œThere might have been a closure because of a natural disaster for a little while while somebody cleans things up.Ā  This is a rarity and itā€™s very unfortunate for the people that like to enjoy northern Wisconsin.ā€

Boulder Lake Campgroundā€™s closure comes three years after C-NNF officials closed several of the forestā€™s smaller campgrounds to cut costs.

ā€œMost of those were because they were smaller and maybe not used as much,ā€ Kendall said. ā€œThere were budget cutbacks. Everyoneā€™s fighting for budget dollars and the state and federal level.

ā€œThis one (Boulder Lake) is the most popular one, itā€™s the biggest one, itā€™s been around for a long time,ā€ he said. ā€œItā€™s not a question of, ā€˜Gee, nobodyā€™s using it, letā€™s shut it down.ā€™ Itā€™s a question of, ā€˜Everybodyā€™s using it, letā€™s keep it open.ā€™ā€

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