SOUTH BOARDMAN -- A local state forest campground will be closed for the second time in three summers.
The Forks State Forest Campground in Grand Traverse County is among a dozen such campgrounds to close for the year, a result of the state's budget woes. An eight-site rustic campground may not sound like much, but it amounts to good public access to the Boardman River and a steady trickle of tourism dollars.
"It makes a difference for a little town like this when they start taking things away," said Fred Schlosser, owner of the Country Store in South Boardman, the closest place for Forks campers to stock up on food and supplies.
They tend to buy about $500 a week in merchandise at his store through summer months: charcoal, fuel, groceries, fishing bait and "right down to rain ponchos," Schlosser said.
Other regional state forest campgrounds to be closed include Lake Marjory in Otsego County and Twin Lakes in Cheboygan County. Both the Forks and Twin Lakes were closed two summers ago because of state budget shortfalls, along with 18 other state forest campgrounds across the northern parts of Michigan.
Ted Kraimer, of Traverse City, is a fishing guide who sometimes uses access to the Boardman River at the Forks, on Brown Bridge Road, just off Supply Road.
"We're not affected as much as the guy who comes up from downstate and wants to pitch a tent there and fish," he said.
There are places to park and walk down to the river at the Forks, but it's still a shame that public campgrounds must close, Kraimer said.
"It's just one less place," he said.
It's not the kind of campground where visitors make reservations online, so campers may show up to find the gate padlocked, outhouses nailed shut and no hand pump on the water well.
The closed campgrounds were chosen based on low user numbers, other nearby camping facilities and those not associated with hiking or other trails, said Jim Radabaugh, section supervisor of the trails and recreation program for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
The Forks averages $4,000 per year in revenues, but the 12 closed campgrounds will save the state $70,800 in expenses when combined with reductions in seasonal workers this summer, Radabaugh said.
"They are closed for the year. The money was already removed from our budget," he said. "It's always difficult to close down public facilities, especially because there's always people who have their favorite campgrounds. Unfortunately, it's the economics of things."
Closures
Complete list of 2009 state forest campground closures:
| Campground name | County | Number of sites |
| Northern Lower Peninsula | ||
| Thunder Bay River | Alpena | 10 |
| Twin Lakes | Cheboygan | 11 |
| Big Oaks | Montmorency | 27 |
| Lake Marjory | Otsego | 10 |
| Muskrat Lake | Oscoda | 14 |
| Forks | Grand Traverse | 8 |
| Upper Peninsula | ||
| Pike Lake | Marquette | 10 |
| Little Brevort Lake South | Mackinac | 12 |
| Shelldrake Dam | Chippewa | 18 |
| West Branch | Dickinson | 18 |
| North Horseshoe Lake | Marquette | 10 |
| Headquarters Lake | Luce | 8 |
Source: Michigan Department of Natural Resources
