Armed man prompts Boulder Lake Campground shutdown

OCONTO ‒ A popular national forest campground in Oconto County is closed following complaints about an armed man walking through the area, the sheriff’s office disclosed Wednesday.

The man, who lives adjacent to Boulder Lake Campground in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, was armed with a semi-automatic weapon, said Chief Deputy Ed Janke.

The sheriff's department received about a half-dozen reports about the man after complaints were first made to the U.S. Forest Service last summer, he said.

“It appeared that this man’s behavior began to destabilize over the course of several months,” Janke said. “We worked with local authorities, and state and federal authorities to re-stabilize it, and at this point, we believe it is stabilized.”

Janke said he could not discuss how the man’s behavior was stabilized. He also declined to identify the man.

He said other activities on the man's property were also reported to authorities, but they were determined to be legal and not a threat to others.

There “is no immediate threat presented to any of the neighbors,” he said.

No reports have been forwarded to the District Attorney’s Office, and the sheriff’s department is continuing to investigate.

Dick Kendall, chairman of the town of Doty, said the closure is disruptive to both the thousands of visitors who use the campground as well as the stores and restaurants that serve them.

“It’s very devastating to the people who haven’t done anything wrong,” he said. “It’s very unsettling and raises a lot anger and angst in a lot of people.”

Oconto County Economic Development Corporation executive director Paul Ehrfuth said he gives the agencies involved credit for working together on the issue, and understands why the campground was closed.

“What I don’t understand, is that many people will be screened out from what (they) like to do because of a safety concern posed by an individual,” he said.

“That’s a significant economic impact for those businesses not to have those 90 (camping) groups (every week),” he said. “As dependent as we are on tourism, it will be noticed.”

Kendall said he recalled the man had called him last year well before the campground incidents occurred. The campground was not the topic.

“It was a very casual conversation,” he said. “It didn’t go anywhere.”

Boulder Lake Campground is at the south end of Boulder Lake just east of the Langlade County line, about 12 miles west of Mountain and 30 miles east of Antigo.

The campground has 89 campsites, 23 with electricity.

Hilary Markin, the public affairs officer for the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest office in Rhinelander, said the campground is one of its most popular sites, and is the largest on the east side of the forest.

It’s generally open from early May through near the end of October.

The Forest Service on Jan. 2 notified 87 people who made reservations that their reservations were being canceled, Markin said.

Markin said she did not have any information on how many complaints the USFS received about the man with the rifle, and noted that the issue is outside its control.

“We are working with the authorities to address the potential public safety concerns,” she said.

Kendall said he’s keeping his fingers crossed that the campground can open this year.

“Everybody would hope this thing could be resolved so the campground could be reopened for the 2018 season,” he said.