Boundary Waters fires deal blow to businesses

What they're saying: "There's not a manual for this," Matt Ritter, owner of Voyageur Canoe Outfitters, told MPR News. "Everyone runs their business differently, but a lot of us pay most of our bills in July and August."

By the numbers: The BWCA averages about 150,000 visitors a year, with the majority staying overnight, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

• A Conservation Economics Institute study, the most recent available, found that those visitors spent $56.3 million in 2016, which would be about $78 million in 2026 dollars. More than half of that spending went to outfitters like Ritter's.

Meanwhile, tourism businesses nearby are trying to get the word out that the fires aren't burning all of northern Minnesota.

• Visit Cook County spokesperson Kjersti Vick told the Star Tribune that businesses in Lutsen, Schroeder and Grand Marais, which are 50 miles from the nearest fire, are seeing cancellations.

• "People are assuming that we're fully shut down and it's not safe to come here, and that's not true. We are not in an active fire zone," she told the paper.

What we're watching: The BWCA remains closed until at least Friday, but business owners are asking the U.S. Forest Service to allow for a partial re-opening in areas away from the fires.

• U.S. Forest Service officials said Monday they hope to be able to open some portions of the canoe wilderness, but they haven't given a timeline on when they will make the announcement.