in the United States, was founded and is headquartered in La Farge, Wisconsin. The region's cheese production boasts specialty cheeses such as raw-milk artisan cheese, which is made from unpasteurized milk. Organic dairy generally fits best with a grass-based milk production system. The bioregion's economic and cultural characteristics were federally recognized with the granting of the Upper Mississippi River Valley (UMRV) viticultural area, the largest designated winemaking region in the country, by the Treasury Division's Tax and Trade Bureau in 2009. The petition for designation maintains the position that the region is a cohesive whole for marketing wine, and is now used to market other products. In addition to wine-grape production and wine-making, the region, especially in southeast Minnesota, is known for apple production. Tobacco was also once a key crop of the Driftless, as its topography and sandy, nutrient-rich soil are suitable for its growth. The Driftless Region Food and Farm Project, in partnership with the University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems, is a coalition of sustainable-agriculture farmers, processors, distributors, chefs, planning commissions, and other participants. The project seeks to define the culinary identity of the region and further direct the development of agritourism. Mining Fine-grained silica sand is typical of the Driftless and is mined for use primarily in hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as "fracking". Due to the presence of sandstone bedrock at or near the surface, sand mining is an industrial activity in the Driftless, with Wisconsin at the forefront of the industry. The sandstone contains quartz (silica) sand grains of the ideal hardness, shape, and size, which make it optimal for use in hydraulic fracturing by the petroleum and natural gas industries. The mining activity involves quarrying the sandstone bedrock by blasting with dynamite, crushing the rock, washing, drying, and grading the resulting sand, and transporting the sand out of the region via barge or train. In 2017, there were 73 frac sand mines in operation in Wisconsin alone, and there are currently five operating industrial sand mines in Minnesota; the proliferation of sand mines in the region created new jobs and generated economic activity. But the prominence of industry has raised concerns about impacts on water quality, air pollution caused by silica dust, noise and light pollution, heavy truck traffic, and the destruction of hills and ridges for which the region is known. Recently, industry changes have caused companies such as Hi-Crush, Covia,