The economy of Iron County has been primarily one of extraction. The timber industry, while it is still number one, advanced through the cutting of the great pine, the cutting of the hardwoods, and is now on the third stage--pulp. Over a hundred year period, 79 mines shipped ore from the area, but the number of mines slowly declined beginning in the 1950's, the last one closing in 1978. Tourism has developed through the years with a major movement movement beginning in the early 1920's. Today it ranks number two in Iron County economy. Agriculture, due to short seasons and increasing costs, has been primarily subsistence with the exception of potato farming. A recent cash crop which grows well in our climate is canola, which is used for making cooking oil.