Cougars up north?

I've been hearing a few anecdotes lately of people seeing a big brown cat, bigger than a bobcat, roaming around in the northeast sort of in the vicinity of Marinette, even crossing roads and such. At least one of my coworkers claims to have seen a black one "way bigger than a bobcat" in the treeline outside her house.

I know the wolves have been coming back over the past couple of decades, but does anybody know the official status of cougars in the Upper Great Lakes region?