Splashes of red and orange have already begun to erupt in the canopies of maple trees around Canadensis.

Splashes of red and orange have already begun to erupt in the canopies of maple trees around Canadensis.



A dry summer has brought an early burst of color to the Poconos, which means a quick start to one of its busier times, when "leaf peepers" hop into their cars to gawk at Mother Nature's fall finery, hike her forests or zip-line through her treetops.



This year, the dependable turn of the seasons has been accompanied by an influx of new guests — a couple hundred law enforcement officers outfitted in bulletproof vests, bearing assault rifles in the search for slaying suspect Eric Frein.



Standing grim-faced along Route 447, weapons at the ready, they clash with the tranquil trickle of leaves coasting gently to Earth.



A couple of miles away, Gaile Horowitz's cheery yellow-shingled Brookview Manor Inn, with its charming wrap-around porch, would normally be filling up for the fall season. October is its busiest month, but this year there are still plenty of rooms available.



"People are afraid," said Horowitz, who has maintained a sense of humor about her predicament. "I have had a lot of cancellations, but I have had some media. This is fall foliage coming in. I should be booked every weekend."



She also has hosted a few neighbors who were unable to return to their homes early on in the manhunt. Even the inn's restaurant, My Daughter's Place, has been quiet.



"Every restaurant in town ... is doing miserable," she said.



Police have identified Frein, 31, as the suspect in a Sept. 12 ambush shooting that killed Cpl. Bryon Dickson and seriously wounded Trooper Alex Douglass outside the state police barracks at Blooming Grove.



Saturday was the 15th day of an intense manhunt involving officers from Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York and several federal agencies focusing on a mountainous and heavily wooded area near the border of Monroe and Pike counties.



Justine Knipe, who co-owns Mountainhome Candle with her husband, Chuck, said September and October are the beginning of "candle season," when people close their windows against the chill and want their homes filled with scents.



"As soon as they named the suspect and where he was from, our business dropped off," Knipe said. "Last Saturday was the worst Saturday we've probably had in years."



Sabine Van Why estimated business at her produce stand along Route 390 just south of Canadensis is down $300 to $400 over the past two weeks.

While Canadensis area residents and the businesses they frequent are coping with a manhunt that has thrust the village into the national spotlight, Pocono Mountain Visitors Bureau officials are trying to get the message out that the search for Frein is limited to a 5-mile area of Monroe and Pike counties.



The tourism agency, which represents a four-county area, has been fielding calls from concerned visitors, spokeswoman Elizabeth Richardson said.



"This region is about the size of the state of Delaware, but people don't necessarily realize that," she said. "Some resorts are taking precautions. Some have added extra security, but very few people seem to mind that."



Skytop Lodge, an upscale resort 3 miles north of Canadensis on Route 390, has closed a few holes of its golf course and taken some other measures out of an abundance of caution, she said.



"Other than that, the resort is still open," she said.



While people may not realize it, most of the Pocono region is unaffected by the hunt for Frein, Richardson said.



Even the state parks closest to the search area remain open for recreation and, in most areas, campers, said Department of Conservation and Natural Resources spokeswoman Christina Novak.



That said, they are getting a lot of inquiries from nervous visitors, and attendance is down.



At Promised Land State Park, 15 minutes north of Canadensis, two camping reservations were canceled and more than 150 calls have come in, asking whether the park is open and whether there are any restrictions, she said. Holders of leased cabins have been staying away.



Nervous campers aren't being charged cancellation fees.



For areas of the Delaware State Forest where the search is active, camping permits are not being approved. But most of the forest is unaffected. Still, some hikers are finding alternate paths.



"There was a Boy Scout troop intending to hike Thunder Swamp Trail that decided to cancel," Novak said. "Anecdotally, [the state's district forester] believes recreational use of the state forest in the area is down."



With peak leaf season around the corner, the Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau advises tourists to call their destination in advance to see if any activities have been affected.

No one would call Canadensis a tourism hotbed, said Roger Smith, owner of Smitty's Camping & Sports Shop. His store, at the corner of routes 390 and 447 in Barrett Township, is a few miles from the area that has been subject of the most intense state police search activity.



The sleepy region's biggest draw has been that it is on the way to other, busier destinations, such as Lake Wallenpaupack, he said. And this summer, it wasn't on the way to much of anything because the bridge on Route 447 was out. That really hurt his business.



The bridge only reopened in August. A brief surge in business was quickly quashed by the Frein manhunt.



The small store, with a picture window looking out onto the intersection of routes 390 and 447, is stocked with hunting and fishing gear, along with watersports equipment, insect repellent and archery supplies. On Wednesday, Smith had seen only a couple of customers.



With the local economy still in the dumps, residents have been pretty price-conscious, Smith said. He can spot a tourist right away, because they're not looking for bargains. And they've been in short supply.

Smith, Horowitz and other Canadensis business owners note that their troubles pale in comparison to those of the law enforcement officers conducting the grueling and dangerous search for Frein. Or the residents in Barrett and Price townships whose lives have been upended by the search. Or the families of the two troopers he is accused of shooting.



The longer the manhunt goes on, however, the more detrimental it could be to those whose livelihoods depend on the mountains' ability to lure.



"What I'm afraid it might infringe on is the hunters," Smith said.



Smith bought a couple of crossbows in anticipation of the season, but he's worried the Frein search will still be going on when state deer archery season begins Saturday. State police have asked bowhunters to avoid the nearby Delaware State Forest during the search for Frein.



Pennsylvania Game Commission wildlife officers are involved in the search, mostly as trackers, spokesman Travis Lau said. Luckily, he said, not much hunting is in season until Saturday. If the search for Frein is ongoing, the commission will likely issue an advisory to hunters to avoid the area.



"We are just hoping to wrap it up out there before archery," Lau said.



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