In 1827, trapper and mountain man Jediah Strong Smith described the region as "completely barren and destitute of game." Sometimes, as he crossed it in search of beaver, he was without water for days at a time. Smith's grim assessment was supported by government-sponsored explorer John C. Fremont, who called the 200,000-square-mile sagebrush country the "Great Basin"—a name that stuck. This vast "wasteland" fills most of present-day Nevada and spills over into Utah and Oregon. Although it consists of mostly desert plains, a mountain backdrop is always in view.

Fremont's characterization was correct—Great Basin has virtually no outlets to the sea. It originally contained two huge lakes that dwindled in size as climate changed and glaciers retreated. Great Salt Lake was one of them, now one-third its original size.

Water is scarce in the Great Basin—rainfall seldom exceeds 12 inches per year—and evaporation rates in the shallow and highly alkaline desert lakes can exceed 50 inches annually.

The Sierra Nevada mountains to the west force clouds moving east from the Pacific to rise and prematurely dump moisture, denying rain to the region. The Great Basin will never support extensive human settlement, (the region's large cities—Salt Lake City, Reno, and Las Vegas—all lie on its fringes), but the interior, despite its harshness, is an area of splendor and fascination. Of particular interest are the basin's few spring-fed marshes, which lie in stark contrast to their surroundings. Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge in northeastern Nevada and Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge in northwestern Utah owe their existence to two such oases.

The two refuges, located in the highest elevations of the basin, sustain a unique life zone that depends on groundwater. Fish and aquatic terrestrials are sustained and thrive because active spring-water, clear and abundant, gurgles from this parched landscape and remains long enough to support extensive marshes. It's truly an amazing site, these green and verdant refuges in the midst of the inhospitable desert, and wildlife literally flocks to their confines to breed and flourish. Both of these refuges are a naturalist's paradise, and anyone passing through the region would do well to pay them a visit.

Move on to Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge

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